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The Battle with the Eagle. 


WINTER ADVENTURES 
OF THREE BOYS 
IN THE GREAT LONE LAND 


BY 



EGERTON R. YOUNG 


• » 

Author of “ By Canoe and Dog-train,” ” Three Boys in the Wild 
North Land,” etc. 


WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DRAWINGS BY 
J. E. LAUGHLIN, AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 


“ The visions of memory are the dreams of youth ; 
And fancy weaves garlands of flowers of truth.” 

— E. R. Y., Jr. 



NEW YORK : EATON & MAINS 
CINCINNATI : CURTS & JENNINGS 


43284 

Copyright by 
EATON & MAINS, 

J899. 

TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 


00 f - 3 1899 

of 


SECOND COPV, 


-15-n \ ^ V 


Eaton & Mains Press, 

150 Fifth Avenue, New York. 


t 


EXPLANATORY. 


This book of Winter Adventures of Three Boys 
in the Great Lone Land follows the one entitled 
Three Boys in the Wild North Land. In the pre- 
vious volume the stories were those of the Summer 
and Fall. In this book they are of the Winter and 
Spring. Each volume is complete in itself. 

In sending out this volume the author is pro- 
foundly thankful to the indulgent reviewers who 
had so many kind words to say about the first book. 
In about the only adverse criticism that we saw, and 
which was kindly written, the reviewer seemed to 
think it strange that boys could have such a jolly 
time with a lot of Christian Indians as we had 
described. He rightly stated that boys’ ideas of 
Indians were associated with the tomahawk and the 
scalping knife, and that they had the impression that 
the only good time they could have among them was 
when the blood-curdling war-whoops were heard 
and the redskins were being shot down by adventur- 
ous lads led on by cowboys. There has been alto- 
gether too many of these false and erroneous ideas 


Explanatory 

about the Indians circulated. Such things are now 
impossibilities. 

In these volumes we have given the correct idea 
of the Indian as he is to-day in regions where for 
years we lived. The Gospel has transformed his 
once cruel nature, but has not marred his cleverness 
and skill as a hunter or a guide. The brief glimpses 
into his religious life are absolutely true, and the 
insertion of them will, we trust, not weaken, but 

rather strengthen the book. 

6 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER I. 

Sagasta-weekee — A Happy Home in the Great Lone Land — 
Three Boys there Welcomed — The Sudden Coming of Winter 
— Various Sports Discussed — Hurrah for the Dogs ! — Useful 
Animals — Dog-whips — Kinesasis, the Dog-keeper. . *13 

CHAPTER 11 . 

Bringing Home the Dogs — The Thin Ice — Method of Cross- 
ing Dangerous Places — The Dogs’ Summer Home — The 
Return Trip — The Unexpected Goose Hunt — The Saucy Fox — 
Kinesasis’s Question — “Why do the Geese go to the South 
Land?’’. 24 


CHAPTER HI. 

Selecting Their Dogs — Various Methods of Breaking Them 
In — Frank’s Success by Kindness with Monarch — Sam’s 
Troubles with Spitfire — Conquered at Last — Training and Cap- 
turing Dogs with Dogs — Alec’s Train of Part Staghounds. 37 

CHAPTER IV. 

Numerous Dogs — Useful Animals — Food Supply — Frozen 
Fish — Bringing Them Home — Vigorous Work for Boys and 
Dogs — Frank’s Tumble — Sam’s Ducking — Skating Parties — 
Alec’s Thrilling Adventure — The Race for Life — Northern 
Gray Wolves — Their Cunning — Their Various Stratagems — 
Mr. Ross Fears — The Search .Party — Alec Rescued — The 
Wolves Shot. ........ 52 


CHAPTER V. 

The Invitation to the Indian School Examination and Sports 
— Trapping Experiences — The Cunning Cross Fox — Frank 
Seeking Aid from Memotas — Method of Successful Trap- 
setting — Joyous Trip to the Mission — An Abiding Christian 

7 


Contents 


Civilization for the Indians — Sam’s and a Young Indian’s Novel 
Hunting Methods — Wild- cats Captured — The Queer Battle 
Between a Fox and a Wild Cat. . . . . .71 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Winter Birds of the Great Lone Land — The Whisky 
Jack — The Ptarmigan — Their Beds in the Snow — Mission 
Visits — Cupid’s Darts — The Wood Supply — Primitive Way of 
Capturing Partridges — Great Snowy Owls — Methods of Cap- 
ture — Sam’s Experience — The Fearful Grip of the Owl’s 
Claw 88 


CHAPTER VH. 

Wounds from Claws versus Teeth Discussed — Mr. Ross’s 
Story of the Battle with the Eagles — Their Mountain Eyrie — 
Their Hunting Skill — Their Voracity — The Eaglets — The Con- 
flict — The Result — The Painful Wounds. . . . loi 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Sundays in the Great Lone Land — Services at the Mission — 
By Skiff or Canoe in Summer — By Dog-train in Winter — 
Napoleon, the Tame Bear, and His Load — Services at Sagasta- 
weekee — Missionary Journeys — Native Ministers — The Queer 
Sermon — Happy Christmas Times — New Year’s, the Great 
Day — Oo-che-me-ke-se-gou, the Kissing Day — Varied Experi- 
ences — The Great Feast — Happy Indians — Thanksgiving, no 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Indian School Examinations — The Prizes — Noble In- 
dian Boys — The Skates to Kepastick — The Various Sports — 
Foot Races — The Skating Race — Tricky Clerk Outwitted — 
Frank and Kepastick Tie as Winners — Football — Hockey.- 127 

CHAPTER X. 

The Great Race with the Dog-trains — Careful Preparations 
by Alec — The Different Breathing Places — The Treacherous 
Half-breeds — Their Signal Failure — Alec’s Triumph. . 138 

CHAPTER XL 

Pasche Disappears — The Search — Big Tom and Mustagan — 
The Whisky Jacks — Pasche Found in a Hollow Tree — Chased 

8 


Contents 


by an Angry Moose Bull— Pasche Rescued— His Quaint Ac- 
count of His Adventures. ...... 148 

CHAPTER XH. 

Kinesasis’s Wonderful Story — How He Wooed Shakoona — 
Their Youthful Da3'^s — Miskoodell Rescued from the Bear — 
Oosahmekoo with His Gold — Kinesasis’s Successful Hunt — 
His Furs Stolen — Marries Shakoona — Conflict with the Old 

Warrior. ......... 161 


CHAPTER XIII. 

Comments on Kinesasis’s Wonderful Story — The Pack of 
Furs Recovered — Honesty of Indians — Their Different Hunt- 
ing Grounds — The Golden Rule — The Dishonest Foreign In- 
dian — His Sudden Death. . . . . . .177 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Home Amusements and Studies — Happy Days at Sagasta- 
weekee — Stories of the Early Hunters — Methods of Hunting 
Before the Introduction of Firearms — Wolves More Dreaded 
Then — Story of Two of Kinesasis’s Children — Killed by 
Wolves — Shakoona’s Sorrow — Saved by the Caresses of Little 
Children. ......... 185 


CHAPTER XV. 

The Beavers, and Something About Them — Two Hunters at 
Sagasta-weekee — A General Invitation to a Beaver Hunt Ac- 
cepted — The Preparations — The Trip — Dog-traveling in the 
Woods — Saucy Wild Animals — The Wolf’s Cove — The Boys’ 
Plunge in the Snowdrift — The Rescue. . . . .194 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Still on the Way to the Beaver House— The Winter Camp in 
the Woods — Work for All— Feeding the Dogs — Our Boys 
Guarding Their Own Train — The Evening Meal — Bitter Cold 
— Milk in Lumps of Ice — Evening Prayers — The Wintry Camp 
Bed — Tucked In — Mysterious Sounds in the Forest — Smother- 
ing Sensations — Sam’s Nightmare — Breakfast — Tricky Dogs — 
Methods of Capture — Carioles and Sleds Reloaded — Trains 
Harnessed — Journey Resumed. ..... 210 

9 


Contents 


CHAPTER XVII. 

Still on the Way to the Beavers — The Blizzard in the Camp — 
Sleeping and Eating under Difficulties — Vicious Little Beaver 
Dogs — The Beaver House — Preparations for Their Capture — 
The Beavers’ Kitchen — Discovered by the Little Dogs — How 
Destroyed — The Method of Capture — Man’s Experience 
versus Animal Instinct — The Rich Harvest of Beavers. 228 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Wise Economy of Indian Hunters — Game Never All Killed 
— Beavers’ Tails — The Boys Interested in Them — Preparations 
for the Return Trip — Loads Packed — Wolverines — Their Cun- 
ning Theft of Five Beavers — Dogs and Men on Their Trail — 
Surviving Beavers Already at Work — The Return of the Hunt- 
ers — Captured Wolverines — ^Journey Resumed — The Camp — 
The Cry of “Wolves !” 245 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Coming Battle with the Wolves — Thorough Prepara- 
tions — The Cry of the Wolves for Reinforcements — The First 
Attack and Repulse — Wounded Wolves Devoured — Memotas’s 
Comments — The Second Attack — The Powder Explosions — 
Final Victory — Dogs Reluctant to Attack Wolves — Explana- 
tions — Mr. Ross’s Story of the Bears Stealing His Pigs — Dogs 
More Confident in Attacking Bears. .... 259 

CHAPTER XX. 

A Bear Hunt in Winter — Mustagan a Famous Indian Guide 
— Bears’ Den — How Discovered — Boys’ Perplexity — The 
Journey to the Den — A Cold Morning — The Telltale Column 
of Steam — The Attempt to Dig Down to the Bears — Total 
Failure — Successful Tunneling Operations — Exciting Fight in 
the Icy Cavern — The Battles Between the Men and Dogs and 
the Escaping Bears. . . . . . . .275 


CHAPTER XXL 

The First Signs of Spring — The Eagle Moon — Expressive 
Indian Names for Some of the Months — Chats Among the 
Boys About the Phenomena of the North Land — Power of the 
Frost — Cunning of Animals — Cleverness of the Guides — Invi- 

10 


Contents 


tation to a Muskrat Hunt — Gladly Accepted — Habits of These 
Little Animals — Methods of Capture — Their Many Foes — The 
Queer Battle Between Wild Cats and Wolverines. . . 297 

CHAPTER XXH. 

Niskepesim, the Goose Moon — Excitement Among the In- 
dians — The First Goose — Their Northern Migrations — Feeding 
Grounds — Methods of Hunting Them — Nests — Decoys — Our 
Boys Off with the Indians — The Shooting Grounds — Their 
Camp — Great Success — Frank’s Queer Accident — Hit by a 
Dead Goose — Sam’s Comments — Laden with Spoils. . 312 

CHAPTER XXHL 

Sudden Transition from Winter to Spring — Interesting 
Phenomena — Sam’s Last Great Run with His Dogs — His 
Unique Adventure — The Open Water — His Novel Raft — Sus- 
cessful Crossing — Frank’s and Alec’s Duck-shooting Trip — 
The Mighty Nelson — A Hunter’s Paradise — Returning Under 
Difficulties — One More Shot at the Wild Geese — Frank and 
Alec Both Through the Rotten Ice — The Rescue — Alarming 
Rumors — The Fair Visitants at Sagasta-weekee. . . 327 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

The Arrival of the Spring Packet — Welcome Letters — Ar- 
rangements for the Home-flitting — Sam’s Raillery — Rachel 
and Winnie at Sagasta-weekee — Happy Hours — Canoeing Ex- 
cursions — The Cyclone — Young Excursionists Exposed to Its 
Awful Power — The Narrow Escape — The Refuge of the Rock 
— Napoleon, the Tame Bear, in Possession — Gun Signals — The 
Happy Rescue. . . . . . . . .341 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Homeward Bound — Farewell to Sagasta-weekee — Old Nor- 
way House — Sam’s Clever Surmisings — A Glad Surprise for 
Frank and Alec — Sam’s Well-deserved Ducking — A Glorious 
Evening— The Early Call— Just One More Sweet “Good-bye” 
— “All Aboard !” — On Great Lake Winnipeg — Sam’s Success- 
ful Shot at a Bear — Red River — First Glimpse of the Prairies — 
Fort Garry— The Bells of St. Boniface— The Long Trip Across 
the Plains — The Exciting Buffalo Hunt — Saint Paul’s — Still 
On by Lakes and Rivers — Montreal— On Board Ship — The 
Ocean Voyage — Liverpool — Home at Last. . . .361 

II 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 

PAGE 

The Battle with the Eagle Fro 7 itispiece 

Alec’s Race with the Wolves 52 

Dog-traveling under Auroral Lights 71 

Very Glorious Was the Scenery loi 

Summer Sunday Trips to Church no 

Churchgoing in Winter 118 

Norway House, the Hudson Bay Company’s 
Trading Post 127 

Alec, Victor in the Dog Race 138 

Pasche Treed by a Moose 148 

The Meeting of Kinesasis and Shakoona 161 

A Winter Scene in the Great Lone Land 185 

The Capture of the Beavers 228 

The Last of the Buffalo 245 

Explosions Mingled with Yells of Pain and 
Terror 259 

The Bear Still Holding On to His Pig 272 

Sam with His Dogs on the Ice Raft 327 

Rachel and Winnie 341 

The Village of Those Noted Warriors of the 
Plains 361 


12 


WINTER ADVENTURES OF THREE BOYS 

IN THE 

GREAT LONE LAND 


CHAPTER I. 

Sagasta-weekee — A Happy Home in the Great Lone Land — 
Three Boys There Welcomed — The Sudden Coming of Winter 
— Various Sports Discussed — Hurrah for the Dogs — Useful 
Animals — Dog-whips — Kinesasis, the Dog-keeper. 

While a wintry storm was raging outside, in the 
month of November, three happy, excited boys were 
gathered around the breakfast table in a cozy home 
in a far North Land. 

To those who have not read of the previous 
doings of these young lads we would say that our 
heroes were three noble boys from across the sea. 
They had come out the previous summer from Great 
Britain by the Hudson Bay Company’s ship and had 
had several months of most delightful and exciting 
adventures in the wild North Land. They were the 
guests of Mr. Ross, a retired official in the Hudson 
Bay Company, who, when his long term of active 
service in the fur trade had ended, had preferred 
remaining in the country rather than returning to 
any other land. During the many years he had 
traded with the Indians he had ever been on the 
most friendly terms with them. He had observed 
so many noble traits and characteristics in them that 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

he and his family preferred spending the greater 
portion of each year surrounded by them. Then the 
quiet charm of such a life had more attraction and 
a greater fascination for them than the rush and 
worry and demands of our so-called highest civili- 
zation. 

Mrs. Ross was a native Indian woman, but, like 
many other wives of Hudson Bay officials, was a 
highly educated woman. The years spent in foreign 
lands at the best of schools had not spoiled her. She 
was beloved and honored by all who knew her, and 
she was indeed a benediction and a blessing among 
the poor of her own people. 

The musical and expressive Indian names of Min- 
nehaha and Wenonah had been given to the two 
bright, winsome little girls in the household, while 
the wee brother was called by the old Scottish name 
of Roderick. 

Cordially had Mrs. Ross, with her husband, wel- 
comed the three boys, who at their special request 
had come out to be their guests, or rather, more cor- 
rectly, to be loved members of their own household, 
for at least twelve months in that land. Sagasta- 
weekee, the house full of sunshine, was the beautiful 
Indian name given to the cozy, comfortable house 
which Mr. Ross had built for himself and household. 
It was a delightful home, well furnished with every- 
thing essential to the enjoyment and comfort of all 
its inmates. 

We need not here repeat all that has been pre- 
viously mentioned about the three heroes of our 
story. Suffice it to say that Frank, the eldest, was 
14 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

the son of an English banker; Alec was a genuine 
Scottish lad, while Sam was a jolly Irish boy. They 
had a splendid trip across the ocean, and had met 
with varied adventures while on the long journey up 
the rivers and across the portages between York 
Factory, on the Hudson Bay, where they had landed, 
and Norway House, where they had been welcomed 
by Mr. Ross. 

The summer and autumn months had been full of 
wonderful and exciting trips and adventures. Their 
last excursion, which had so recently ended, had 
been one of great pleasure and intense excitement. 
It had been made in canoes to a distant part of the 
country where reindeer and other large game 
abounded. The boys would have been delighted to 
have there remained longer, but the experienced 
guide and canoemen had been quick to notice the 
significant actions of the wild beasts, as well as the 
frightened cries and incessant flights of the wild 
geese and ducks to the South Land. 

Spurred on by the signs of coming winter, they 
had pushed on toward home with unremitting toil 
and but little rest, and had fortunately managed to 
land the boys safely at Sagasta-weekee the day be- 
fore the wintry gale broke upon them. 

Great indeed was the amazement of our three 
boys at the transformation wrought by this sudden 
incoming of winter. 

People living in more southern latitudes, where 
the transition from one season to another is so slow 
and almost imperceptible, can hardly realize the sud- 
denness with which the Frost King can set up his 
15 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

throne and begin his despotic reign. There are no 
long premonitions of his coming. No noisy heralds 
for weeks warn of his approach. The birds and 
beasts seem to have some mysterious intimations 
that he draweth near, and act accordingly. But man 
knoweth not of his approach; he heareth not his 
stealthy steps. 

Yesterday may have been balmy and reposeful, 
with only a few breezes from the summer South 
Land. To-day the wild north winds may howl and 
shriek, while full of frost and pinching cold is the 
icy, biting air. Yesterday the waves may have been 
merrily rippling in the sunshine on the beautiful 
lakes. To-day, after a night of storm and boreal 
tempest, the ice is rapidly forming, and is binding 
down in strongest fetters the highest billows. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ross were much pleased and 
amused at the genuine excitement of the lads as they 
realized the wondrous transformation wrought by 
this first wintry storm, and the possibilities it opened 
up to them for other kinds of sport than those in 
which, for some time past, they had been so deeply 
interested. Eager and excited as they were, they 
had as yet no definite plan of action for their winter 
amusement. So sudden had been the transition, 
there had been no time to think. However, with 
boyish candor and joyous anticipation, they were all 
ready with their suggestions. 

‘‘Skates !” shouted Alec, as he caught a glimpse of 
an icy expanse that glittered in the distance as a ray 
of sunshine shot out through the parting clouds and 
for a moment rested upon it. 

i6 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

‘‘Toboggans !” cried Sam, as he saw a steep hill- 
side one mass of beautiful snow. 

“Let us make an ice boat,” said Frank. Although 
he had never seen one, yet he had eagerly read much 
about them, and at the sight of the frozen lake was 
wild to set about the manufacture of one of these 
dainty craft, that he might enjoy the exhilarating 
sport he had so long anticipated. 

“Capital suggestions are all of these,” said Mr. 
Ross. “Still, as the ice is not yet twenty-four hours 
old, and therefore not very safe for skating, and the 
snow has not yet fallen in sufficient quantity upon 
the hills to make them smooth enough for toboggan- 
ing, and the carpenter will require some time to 
make an ice boat, and we will have six good months 
of winter in which to enjoy these and other sports, 
my suggestion is that we get ready to-day to start, 
as soon as the ice will be safe, for the island fisheries 
and bring home the dogs.” 

“The dogs ! the dogs ! yes, hurrah for the dogs !” 
cried all the boys in unison. 

So everything was for the moment forgotten, or 
postponed, in their eager anticipation to become in- 
timately acquainted with the dogs, about which they 
had heard so much. During the summer months the 
dogs were sent away to a distant island, where they 
were cared for by Kinesasis, a careful old Indian, 
who with a few nets easily caught all the fish they 
required for food. This island was quite out of the 
route of travel, and so our young friends had seen 
but little of Mr. Ross’s dogs, about which many in- 
teresting stories had been told them. Now at the 
2 17 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

prospect of soon seeing them they were greatly 
delighted. 

Although so much can be done with dogs in win- 
ter in those high latitudes, there is practically no use 
for them in summer. It is true that some enterpris- 
ing missionaries had used them for plowing up their 
little potato fields and gardens, and yet it was slow 
work and not long continued. But through the long 
winter the dog is practically the only draft animal 
that can be utilized by the inhabitants of those re- 
gions. From the far-off forest the wood for fuel is 
dragged home by the dogs. The frozen fish, which 
are caught and piled up on stages beyond the reach 
of wolves or other wild beasts, are drawn home to 
the villages from the distant fisheries by the well- 
trained dogs. 

When a Christian decides to exchange his old 
wigwam for a house, all the squared timber and logs 
required in its construction are dragged, if not 
floated by water in the summer time, it may be 
several miles, by the dogs. Christian hunters use 
them to drag home the moose and reindeer or other 
heavy game they may shoot. Formerly their wives 
and mothers had to do this heavy work, but now 
Christianity has relegated this and many other 
heavy duties to the dogs. 

Hov/ever, the greatest and most arduous work to 
which the dogs are put is that of drawing the cari- 
oles and dog-sleds of travelers and tourists or fur 
traders for long distances through various parts of 
that great northern land. Without the dogs, travel- 
ing in that country would be practically impossible in 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

the winter months. So full of lakes and rivers is the 
country that it is possible to go almost anywhere 
in a birch canoe in summer by making occasional 
portages. But when the severe cold freezes up those 
water stretches and the snow lies thick, and there 
is not the least vestige of a road or trail, then the 
value and sagacity of the dogs are seen and the 
power and endurance of the guides and drivers are 
put to the severest test. 

Mr. Ross still prided himself on his splendid dogs. 
In his younger days he had the reputation of being 
one of the most active and energetic of the young 
officers in the service of the Hudson Bay Company. 
His father, who was for many years one of the chief 
factors in the Company’s service, was proud of his 
son’s endurance and skill, as well as of his tact and 
ability in managing strange Indians and thus open- 
ing up new trading posts among them. So con- 
stantly employed had he been in thus advancing the 
interests of this fur-trading corporation that some 
winters he traveled thousands of miles with his own 
dog-train and guides. In his wanderings he had 
met with some strange adventures, and had passed 
through some trying ordeals. Later on we may 
hear from his own lips the recital of some of these 
stirring events. 

Now, however, that he had retired from active 
service he had left these long and dangerous jour- 
neys to be taken by younger men. Still, the love for 
the dogs was so ingrained within him, and he had 
so much work for them to do, that he was the pos- 
sessor of some very valuable trains, which every 
19 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

winter did his work and gave him as much pleasure 
as ever a man derived from the possession of a fine 
carriage and a splendid span of horses. 

Knowing well the habits of the old Indian who 
had charge of his dogs, Mr. Ross said to the boys : 

‘Tt is very likely that Kinesasis will come in to- 
day with some of the dogs. If he does we will 
harness them up to-morrow, and if the ice is strong 
enough to be safe we will return with them for the 
others. I understand he has a number of fine young 
dogs ; doubtless there will be enough to make a good 
train for each of you, after they are broken in. So 
there will be plenty of work for all to-day, to get 
ready for the first day’s outing with dog-trains.” 

Soon everybody was at work. Indian women, 
under Mrs. Ross’s direction, were busily employed in 
making large mooseskin moccasins and mittens. 
Beautiful white blanket overcoats, with warm ca- 
potes or hoods, had already been made for each of 
the boys. They were to be worn over the deerskin 
suits when they stopped to rest in the heavy trail, 
and also while the boys were riding over the long 
stretches of icy roads where it was possible for the 
dogs to easily draw them. 

While the Indian women were thus busily en- 
gaged in fitting out the warm apparel necessary for 
traveling in such a cold land the boys were making 
themselves useful, under Mr. Ross’s guidance, in 
overhauling carioles, dog sleds, harness, robes, 
snowshoes, and other things essential for the trip 
on the morrow. While almost everything was novel 

and strange to them, they were most interested in 
20 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

the heavy dog-whips, and, boylike, must try their 
hands in wielding them. These whips differed very 
much from anything they had ever seen in civiliza- 
tion. While the handles were only eighteen inches 
in length, the lashes, which were loaded with shot, 
were over fifteen feet long. To skillfully handle one 
requires much care and practice. An inexperienced 
person is apt to get into trouble when he first 
attempts to use one. 

Sam was the first of the boys to attempt to dis- 
play his skill, but he soon found that a heavily 
loaded dog-whip was a different weapon from an 
Irish shillalah. He had admired the skill and dex- 
terity with which Mr. Ross, at the boy’s request, had 
used one, and, foolishly thinking that he could suc- 
cessfully imitate him, had with any amount of 
assurance made the attempt. To his surprise and 
chagrin the cracker of the whip, instead of explod- 
ing with a pistol-shotlike report at a spot about 
fifteen feet away, as it had done for Mr. Ross, had 
by some remarkable movement, entirely unexpected, 
squarely landed with stinging effect upon his nose ! 

Alec was the next to try his skill. He was a little 
more successful than Sam, in that he escaped in- 
flicting any injury upon himself, but he succeeded in 
striking Frank upon his ear, although he stood fully 
six feet away from the spot at which Alec had 
aimed. Frank, with his ear hot and stinging from 
the effects of the blow so unexpected and so unin- 
tentionally given, wisely decided that he would post- 
pone his first attempt with a weapon that seemed to 

be as uncertain as a boomerang. 

21 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

To the great delight of the boys, as Mr. Ross had 
predicted, toward evening in came Kinesasis with 
about a dozen dogs at his heels. The splendid ani- 
mals were delighted to get home again after their 
long summer’s outing, and joyously they greeted 
Mr. Ross and the other inmates of the household. 
To our three boys, who had arrived since their de- 
parture, they were somewhat distant and unsociable. 
It is a well-known fact that the native dogs are much 
more hostile to white people than to the natives. 
This offishness and even hostility on the part of the 
dogs did not much disturb the boys. They, boylike, 
had all confidence in themselves that by tact and 
kindness they would soon become warm friends, and 
in this they were not disappointed. After Kinesasis 
had seen the dogs well fed and put into their ken- 
nels he was taken into the kitchen and given a hearty 
meal. A pipe of tobacco was then put in his hands, 
and shortly after he had begun to smoke he made 
his report of his summer’s doings to Mr. Ross. 

To the great delight of Frank, Alec, and Sam, 
Mr. Ross was able to inform them that the number 
of young dogs of the right age to break into work 
was so large that he would be able to furnish each of 
them with a capital train, which they should have 
charge of and call their own as long as they re- 
mained in the country. 

The few short hours of sunshine of that Novem- 
ber day sped away all too soon for the completion 
of the work to be done, and so by lamplight willing 
hands toiled on until everything was ready for the 

journey. So rapidly did the temperature fall, and 
22 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

so intense became the cold, that Mr. Ross decided 
that with careful, experienced Kinesasis as their 
guide the ice would be quite strong enough to bear 
them on the morrow, and so if the storm was not too 
severe they would be off as soon as there was suf- 
ficient light, as it was too risky to travel in the dark 
over such thin ice. 

Cozy were the beds and warm were the blankets 
into which three happy, excited boys tumbled that 
night, and if in their pleasant dreams there were 
sounds of cracking whips and jingling, musical dog- 
bells — well, we will not envy them, still we wish we 
were there. 

23 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 


CHAPTER IL 

Bringing Home the Dogs — The Thin Ice — Method of Cross- 
ing Dangerous Places — The Dogs’ Summer Home — The 
Return Trip — The Unexpected Goose Hunt — The Saucy Fox — 
Kinesasis’s Question, “Why Do the Geese Go to the South 
Land?” 

Long before daylight the next morning the lamps 
were brightly burning in Sagasta-weekee. As it 
was fully twenty miles to the island where Kinesasis 
had kept the dogs, and Mr. Ross was anxious that 
they should return home that night, it was abso- 
lutely necessary that every hour of the daylight 
should be utilized. Thus it was that all were stir- 
ring long before daybreak. A good warm break- 
fast was eaten and all final preparations made. 

As Kinesasis had brought back with him twelve 
dogs, they were thus able to rig out three trains for 
the trip. Extra sleds and harness were taken along, 
as well as food and blankets, in case any serious 
accident or delay should happen to them. In such 
a land it is always best to be prepared for any 
emergency. 

The boys were very proud and happy in their new 
mooseskin costumes and snow-white blankets, only 
relieved by the black stripes on the sleeves and skirts. 
Kinesasis, who had been on the lookout, at length 
reported the morning star, just visible as the har- 
binger of dawn. This was good news, and so the 
start was soon made. 

Mr. Ross up to a late hour the previous evening 
24 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

had not thought of going, but now, at the sight of 
the dogs and the preparations for the journey, he 
seemed to catch the enthusiasm of the boys, as well 
as the fire of earlier days, and resolved to accompany 
them. Three Indian dog-drivers had been secured, 
while Kinesasis, old as he was, was proud to act the 
part of guide for the whole party. 

Sam shared a large cariole with Mr. Ross, while 
Frank and Alec occupied another. To each cariole 
was assigned a careful driver. The third Indian 
made up his load of several dog-sleds piled on each 
other. All were well loaded with supplies. Kine- 
sasis armed himself with a stout pole about ten feet 
long, which he carried as an Alpine climber would 
his alpenstock, although it weighed as much as a 
dozen of them. The boys were surprised at seeing 
him thus encumber himself with a pole so heavy. 
They were also perplexed, when it grew lighter, to 
see a similar one tied on to the sled of the third 
driver. However, before the journey was finished 
they saw the wisdom of his forethought. 

At first some of the dogs seemed to resent the re- 
straint of the harness, and acted as though they 
would still have preferred the liberty which had been 
theirs all through the summer months. Others, 
however, seemed to be delighted to hear the music 
of the little open bells with which the collars of their 
harness were decorated, and joyously barked and 
jumped about as though, in glad sport, they were 
dancing to the music they themselves were making. 

The trail selected at once led them out along Jack 
River, and then southwest into Playgreen Lake. 
25 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

Kinesasis’s alert eye was on the ice continually. 
Now he was glancing at the long stretches before 
him, and then quickly deciding the best route to fol- 
low. When this was selected he seemed to critically 
examine every yard of the ice over which, on his 
moccasined feet, he so lightly and yet so rapidly 
glided. His constant alertness v/as absolutely neces- 
sary; for while the ice was apparently strong enough 
to be safe, yet when ice freezes up thus rapidly air 
holes frequently abound, which may be so thinly 
coated over that none but an experienced eye can 
detect them. They are very treacherous, as the ice, 
which to any ordinary observer may appear safe, 
may not be a quarter of an inch in thickness, and so 
the unfortunate person stepping on one may sud- 
denly drop out of sight. 

The rate at which Kinesasis led the party was 
about five miles an hour. To do this he kept up a 
swinging jog trot, and was ever on the alert for 
danger. Mr. Ross, whose cariole immediately fol- 
lowed the guide, well knowing that there was a cer- 
tain spice of danger associated with a trip like this 
so soon after the ice had formed, also kept con- 
stantly on the alert, as his long years in such kind 
of traveling made him almost equal to an Indian in 
this respect. After traveling for ten miles they 
reached a spot where one of the great currents of the 
mighty Nelson River, from Lake Winnipeg, had 
kept the ice from forming as solidly as where the 
water was not so rapid in motion. By its ominous 
bending and cracking under him Kinesasis saw the 
danger and suddenly brought the whole party to a 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

halt. As the weakness in the ice apparently ex- 
tended a long way in each direction, it was evident 
that the party must get across in some way or else 
return home. The latter idea was not for a moment 
to be entertained, and so arrangements were at once 
made for crossing the dangerous place. This novel 
plan was witnessed by the boys with a great deal of 
interest. At first they wished to jump from the 
warm fur robes in their carioles, but this Mr. Ross 
would not hear of. They could be of no service and 
would only get thoroughly chilled. 

The crossing over the dangerous place was ac- 
complished in the following manner : Kinesasis first 
untied the other heavy pole from the dog-sled, and 
then, advancing to the place where the weak ice 
began, he carefully laid one of the poles on the poor 
ice, and using the other as a ropewalker would his 
balancing pole, he carefully walked out on the one on 
the ice. Then carefully placing the one in his hand 
down on the ice, in a straight line before him, he 
stepped on it and cautiously lifted up the one over 
which he had just walked. Using this as he had 
handled the other one, as a balancing pole, he thus 
went on and on, using his poles alternately, until he 
reached the strong ice on the other side. Then he 
returned in the same way and reported to Mr. Ross 
his opinion, which was that by doubling the under 
surface of the carioles they could pass over in safety. 

This was quickly done by taking the sleds, which 
the third Indian driver had in charge, and securely 
lashing them to the sides of the carioles, in such a 

way that the area of surface on the ice would be 
27 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

doubled, and thus the pressure would be only half. 
As an extra precaution a long rope was tied to the 
rear of each cariole. Then Kinesasis once more 
crossed over with his poles to the firm ice. The 
dogs were put to the gallop, and being urged by 
those behind, as well as by Kinesasis’s well-known 
voice in front, the dangerous place was passed in 
safety. 

“Now I see,’’ said Alec, “the solution of what 
was bothering me. I wondered how Kinesasis was 
able to get along over the weak places in the ice yes- 
terday, but with those poles to help him it is now 
plain enough.” 

“It must require a great deal of practice to do it 
safely,” said Frank. And so in after days he found 
it out when he made the attempt himself, and in 
trying to transfer himself from one to the other 
ignominiously fell off, with such force that he broke 
through the thin ice. Fortunately he had presence 
of mind enough to seize hold of one of the poles, 
which was in such a position that each end rested 
on the unbroken ice. His frightened shouts soon 
brought help, and he was quickly rescued. 

Nothing else occurred to cause delay on the route, 
and so before noon the dogs, excited by the near 
approach to the spot where they had spent their 
happy summer, sprang into a gallop and fairly flew 
over the good ice that was found for the last few 
miles. Kinesasis and the Indian drivers had all they 
could do to keep up with them. 

With great delight did the boys spring out of 

their carioles, and then and there declared that dog 
28 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

traveling was the most exhilarating of sports and 
the very poetry of motion. Some time later they 
changed their views. Immediately on their landing 
they were surrounded by a crowd of dogs of all 
ages, and doglike they acted. The old fellows that 
had done good work in other years and were now 
only kept for drawing wood for the fires, or hay 
from the distant beaver meadows for the cattle, were 
dignified and sedate, and yet manifested the greatest 
affection for their old master, who was kind and 
gentle to all the animals in his possession. This 
kindness was well repaid by the intelligent obedience 
they all gave him. Eagerly the boys scanned the 
young dogs, for from among them were to be se- 
lected the promised trains which they were to call 
their own. 

While the boys were discussing the dogs and indi- 
cating their preferences old Kinesasis had rekindled 
the fire in the large wigwam in which he had passed 
the summer, and, aided by the other Indians of the 
party, busied himself in preparing the dinner out of 
the supplies which had been brought along. Never 
did a dinner seem to taste better than did that one 
in that leather tent to those boys, who had so en- 
joyed the exhilarating twenty-mile trip. 

After Mr. Ross, Frank, Sam, and Alec had dined, 
Kinesasis and the Indian dog-drivers soon had a 
hearty dinner, and then, after the inevitable pipes, 
the work of preparation for the return trip speedily 
began. It was the desire of all to reach home before 
dark. To accomplish this would be no easy matter, 

as there were so many untrained dogs. At first it 
29 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

was decided to harness up a number of these, as 
harness had been brought for the purpose, but after 
some consultation with Kinesasis about the thin ice 
Mr. Ross decided against it, thus leaving the young 
dogs to follow. Only the old dogs were harnessed. 
This added a couple more trains to the party. The 
sleds of these were loaded down with the tent, nets, 
and other things which had made up Kinesasis’s out- 
fit during the summer. 

At length everything was loaded up, and the re- 
turn trip began. There was some trouble in getting 
a number of the younger dogs to take to the ice and 
keep up with the trains; numbers would persist in 
turning round and hurrying back. 

‘‘We cannot blame them,’^ Sam said afterward, 
and his Irish oratory burst forth as he described 
what had been their happy condition. “Just think,” 
he said, “on that beautiful island in the pleasant 
springtime they w'ere born. There they have had a 
happy, careless puppy hood life. There they have 
spent the pleasant summer time with plenty to eat 
and nothing to do. On the sandy beaches and over 
the smooth rocks they have gamboled together, and 
in the warm, rippling waters they have splashed and 
battled. Now the cold weather has suddenly come 
and the snow has covered their favorite romping 
grounds, and even their great bathing places are 
hard with slippery ice.” 

There was, however, but little sentiment in the 
minds of Mr. Ross and the Indians. On the con- 
trary, they were very much annoyed at the delay the 

refractory young dogs were causing, and so had to 
30 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

adopt prompt measures, or they well knew that the 
night would be upon them ere home was reached. 
The younger puppies were packed in the carioles 
around our travelers, and some of the more obsti- 
nate older ones were led by ropes fastened to their 
collars and tied to the sleds, while the great major- 
ity, coaxed by little pieces of meat occasionally 
dropped on the ice, kept well up to the trains. Thus 
on they pushed until they reached the rapid current 
in the lake where the thin ice had given them so 
much trouble in the morning. Fortunately the ad- 
ditional hours of bitter cold had so strengthened it 
that no serious difficulty was anticipated in crossing 
over, even if the loads were much heavier. 

But another event occurred, quite unexpected, in- 
deed, and which, while it did much to impede their 
progress, created a good deal of excitement and in- 
terest. The first intimation of its coming was the 
sudden cry of wild geese not very far away. Their 
“Honk ! honk !” was very distinct, and not only ex- 
cited the boys, but also the dogs. The loose dogs, 
in spite of all the calls of the Indians, at once dashed 
off in the direction from which the loud calls were 
coming, while the sleigh dogs were almost unman- 
ageable. Prompt and quick were the men to act. 
The excited dog-trains were bunched and tied to- 
gether and left in charge of a couple of Indians, 
while Mr. Ross and the boys and a couple of Indians 
went forward to investigate. 

To the right, a couple of hundred yards away, 
was a rocky island, on one side of which was a reedy 
marsh. From among the reeds and rushes the loud 
31 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

calls of the geese were coming. Into these plunged 
the dogs, while the men and boys climbed up on the 
rocks where they could overlook the whole spot, 
which was only of a few acres in extent. The ex- 
perienced eyes of the Indians took in the whole sit- 
uation at a glance. The young geese had not been 
strong enough to fly away to the sunny South Land 
when the call to go had come, and so the old geese 
had left them behind to perish. And so now here 
they were, over twenty of them. A novel goose 
hunt was organized, and, while the boys looked on, 
the Indians, with the dogs’ help, soon secured quite 
a number. Some of them were easily killed, as they 
were securely frozen to the icy reeds. Others rushed 
about in a vain attempt to escape, but they were so 
chilled by the cold that they were easily captured. 
The sleds were piled up with this additional load 
of geese, and the journey was resumed. 

Later on in the evening the boys heard from 
Kinesasis more about those young geese and why 
they were there. They also learned some truths 
from nature that abode with them for many a day. 

Without much difficulty the dangerous places in 
Playgreen Lake were passed, and the return run 
down Jack River was begun. The loose young dogs 
were pretty well wearied by the long trip and re- 
quired some coaxing, and even the occasional crack 
of the whip was necessary to urge them to keep up. 
It is amazing what a latent amount of strength and 
speed there is in a tired dog. Plere was a striking 
example of it. While the trains were jogging along, 

and the young dogs with tongues out and tails down 
32 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

were wearily following after and looking as though 
they were deeply bemoaning their lot, suddenly a 
splendid cross-fox sprang out from the dense forest 
on one side of the river and deliberately dashed 
across before the dogs on the frozen ice toward the 
other shore. All evidence of weariness at once dis- 
appeared. With a hue and cry that would have done 
credit to a first-class pack of hounds they were all 
off, sleigh dogs as well as loose ones. 

The ice was so slippery that it required quite an 
effort on the part of the drivers of the carioles to 
control their dogs and get them in line. If the truth 
must be told, the boys richly enjoyed the short burst 
of speed and the exciting chase, which ended almost 
as soon as it began, for Reynard was too much for 
the yourig dogs and soon reached the shelter of the 
wooded shore. 

The beautiful evening stars were shining in the 
western sky ere the welcome lights in the windows 
of Sagasta-weekee were seen. A hearty welcome 
was given to the returning party by Mrs. Ross and 
the children. All were anxious to hear about the 
first day’s winter outing, and each boy had to give 
his own version of the day’s excitements and 
pleasures. 

The commodious kennels were soon taken pos- 
session of by the tired dogs. Indian servants had 
abundance of fish ready for them, and a watchful 
oversight was kept upon them that the stronger ones 
should not rob the weaker or younger ones, a trick, 
we are sorry to say, of which some dogs are guilty. 

After the hearty supper and prayers were over in 
3 33 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

the dining room, and the younger children had re- 
tired to rest, Mr. and Mrs. Ross and the boys went 
out into the capacious kitchen to hear old Kinesasis 
give his version of the goose hunt. To please the 
old man, Mr. Ross filled a beautiful calumet and pre- 
sented it to him as a gift, in addition to his wages, 
for his thoughtful care of the dogs while under his 
charge at the island. For some minutes he smoked 
his new pipe in silence. Indians are the least de- 
monstrative people in the world, and Kinesasis was 
one of them. He was never known to say “Thank 
you’' in his life, and yet none could be more grateful 
or pleased than he to have his faithful services thus 
recognized. Mr. Ross thoroughly understood him, 
and the grateful look in his expressive eyes as he 
received the pipe from Mr. Ross’s hand was all that 
was expected or that would be received. Without 
one word of reference to the pipe, Kinesasis began 
about the wild geese. Here is his story, which was 
a sort of monologue. He said : 

“I have been much thinking about it, and I feel 
that it is my fault that the young geese could not go 
south with the old ones when the call came in the 
voice of the North Wind that it was time to go. I 
well remember that last spring, when in the big boat 
I carried the dogs out to the island, we saw some 
geese flying around that island where we caught 
the young ones to-day. We could not get a shot at 
the old geese then, they were so wary, but we pulled 
ashore, and there among the rushes we found some 
nests full of eggs. Of course, we took the eggs and 
ate them. No doubt those old geese when they re- 
34 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

turned, after we had gone, were very angry at our 
taking the eggs, but they were not discouraged, and 
so they went to work and filled up their nests with 
another setting of eggs and hatched them out. But 
they had lost a full month of time, and there was 
not enough warm weather left for these broods of 
young geese to grow strong to rise up in the air 
when the call came to fly away to the South Land.’^ 

For a few minutes he puffed away vigorously at 
his calumet, and then continuing his story said: 
‘‘Wild geese are strange things. I have hid myself 
from them and watched them years ago, when they 
were more plentiful and hatched their young at 
many places around our lakes and rivers here. Then 
we had only bows and arrows, and so did not kill as 
many as we do now. Their greatest enemies were 
the foxes, but no fox would dare attack a goose on 
her nest or a brood of young ones if the old gander 
were around. One blow of his powerful wing would 
kill any fox. I have found dead foxes that have 
thus been killed.” 

Then, looking up, the old Indian said, in a voice 
that showed he was deeply impressed by what he 
was uttering: “There was always some strange 
mystery about their call to go south and their leav- 
ing. To-day they would be acting as though they 
would be intending to stay with us all the time. 
They were all very quiet and only busy in getting 
their food, while the old ones were alert against 
their enemies, and would even risk their lives to de- 
fend their young ones. Then to-morrow would 
come, and there was such a change in them. They 
35 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

were all so excited and noisy; their cries filled the 
air. The old ones would stretch their wings and 
circle round and round in the air about their young 
ones and encourage them to follow. Soon all of 
them would rise up and up, and, starting away for 
the South Land, we would see them no more that 
year. And yet not all, for sometimes there were 
late broods, like the one we found to-day. They 
came too late to be strong enough to fly. They 
could not go, and here is the mystery to me. Why 
was it that the parent geese, that yesterday would 
risk their lives in fighting against wild animals to 
save their young, would to-day, when the call came 
to go, leave their young broods behind them to 
perish? They all did it. Never was an old goose 
known to stay behind when the call came. That 
voice was louder and stronger than was even the 
love for their offspring. Can any of you tell old 
Kinesasis why it is so?” 


36 


IN THE Great Lone Land 


CHAPTER III. 

Selecting Their Dogs — Various Methods of Breaking Them 
In — Frank’s Success by Kindness with Monarch — Sam’s 
Troubles with Spitfire — Conquered at Last — Training and Cap- 
turing Dogs with Dogs — Alec’s Train of Part Staghounds. 

With this question of the old Indian ringing in 
their ears the party in the kitchen broke up, and as the 
day had been a long one they all soon retired to rest. 

The boys were more than delighted with the day’s 
experience, and were full of joyful anticipation for 
the morrow, for then it was that they were to select 
the dogs that were to constitute their own trains and 
at once to begin the work of breaking them in. So 
long and soundly did they sleep the next morning 
that the second breakfast bell was ringing when they 
awoke, and so they had but little time in which to 
dress ere breakfast was served. However, to their 
joy they found that others had also overslept them- 
selves, Even Mr. Ross himself, who was one of 
these, declared that the capital outing of the previous 
da)^ had done him a great deal of good, as he had not 
slept so well for a long time. 

The events of yesterday and the anticipations of 
the present day were discussed with great animation. 
The boys were questioned as to the style and disposi- 
tion of the dogs they each desired and the methods 
they intended to pursue in their training. Frank 
wanted his to be strong and powerful, able to carry 
him over any difficult place and able to draw any 
reasonable load assigned him. Alec’s ambition was 
37 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

for a swift train, that he might have all the fun and 
excitement of rapid traveling. 

“All right,” said Sam, “but give me the darlings 
with any amount of mischief and tricks in them. 
Those are the dogs for me !” 

A hearty laugh from all greeted Sam’s queer v/ish. 

“I think, as regards the tricks, we can easily satisfy 
you,” said Mr. Ross. “And it will be amusing to see 
how a young Irish gentleman can circumvent them; 
for you will find out, before you get through with 
them, that tricky dogs are not only very clever, but 
very provoking, in some of their deeds.” 

Mr. Ross had been very careful for years in the se- 
lection and breeding of his dogs. There is as much 
difference between good and bad dogs as there is be- 
tween high-spirited horses and miserably lazy ones. 
The hardy Eskimo was still the prevailing element in 
his dogs. There were, however, many crosses with 
some of the finest breeds of civilization, such as the 
English mastiff, the Newfoundland, and the large 
Scottish staghound. Dogs are considered old enough 
to be broken to harness when they have reached their 
ninth month. They should not, however, be ex- 
pected, no matter how willing, to draw very heavy 
loads until they are considerably older. They are 
much more easily trained when young, and are not so 
apt to be sullen and ugly as are dogs which are only 
broken in after they have reached the age of two or 
three years. 

Soon after breakfast and prayers an early visit was 
made to the kennels. The boys were desirous of 
having the pleasure that morning of giving the dogs 
38 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

their breakfast. They were very much surprised, 
however, when informed that the dogs were only fed 
once a day, and that that one meal was given to them 
in the evening, when their day’s work was done. 
This information at first aroused their sympathies 
for the dogs, but after some experience they found 
out that they could not only do much better work on 
one good meal a day, but were always in much better 
health. 

Some dogs submit readily to the harness and never 
give any trouble; others are very obstinate and will 
take any amount of whipping before they will sur- 
render. Some that seem docile and affectionate 
before being harnessed, when they find themselves 
collared and strapped, develop the ferocity of wolves 
and make the most desperate efforts, not only to get 
loose, but to attack their own masters. Mr. Ross 
had, after some discussion with the boys, promised 
them the privilege to do the breaking in of their own 
dogs, provided the animals did not develop too ob- 
stinate dispositions, which would require a good deal 
of punishment ere they would submit. Generally this 
work was done by the Indian servants, as many kind- 
hearted masters cannot bear to inflict the punishment 
themselves, which seems to be necessary for some 
dogs to receive ere their wills are conquered. 

Several methods are used in breaking in young 
dogs. Some trainers securely harness them up and 
fasten them to a sled, then vigorously, by voice and 
whip, keep at them until they yield and do what is 
demanded of them. They must at the first harness- 
ing be so securely fastened that they cannot possibly 
39 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

in any way squeeze or pull themselves out from the 
harness. Nearly all dogs at first make desperate 
efforts to escape. If they once succeed in doing so, 
during the process of training, they are never abso- 
lutely reliable afterward. They will occasionally try 
to repeat the experiment of squeezing themselves 
loose, and may do it at a critical place on a long 
journey, and thus cause annoyance and delay. 

One of Mr. Ross’s methods, which he now sug- 
gested to the boys, was to have an old train of four 
steady dogs harnessed up in tandem style and one of 
the young dogs, which was to be broken in, har- 
nessed in between the third and fourth dog of the 
train. Frank was given the first selection. He 
chose a large, powerful dog that seemed to be part 
mastiff and part Newfoundland. He had a fine head 
and kindly eyes. Frank, who was a great lover of 
dogs, and knowing much about them, had taken the 
precaution to make a visit to the kitchen, and now, 
with his outer pockets supplied with broken bits of 
meat and buns, he began the work of making friends 
with this big, burly young dog, which was his first 
choice. The fact that only in the evening were they 
supposed to be fed was quietly ignored by Frank 
just now. 

Kinesasis called him Ookemou. . This Frank 
translated into Monarch, and by this name he was 
always called. Frank began his approaches by a 
liberal use of the contents of his pockets, and who 
ever knew a young dog proof against such an argu- 
ment? Growing dogs are always hungry, and will 

take kindly to anyone who will stuff them. The 
40 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

Indian servants speedily had a train of old dogs 
ready, with a vacant harness placed as we have de- 
scribed. Into it Monarch willingly allowed himself 
to be harnessed by Frank. The whole train was 
then fastened to a dog-sled, and the word “Marche !” 
was shouted by the driver. The well-trained dogs 
at once responded and started off, and as long as 
Frank ran by the side of Monarch the young dog did 
very well, but when he dropped behind and sprang 
on the sled with the Indian driver Monarch also 
made an effort to do likewise. This, however, he 
found to be an impossible feat, as the three strong 
dogs before him kept him on the move, and so he 
was obliged to proceed, which he did very unwill- 
ingly. Frank shouted to him to go on. This, how- 
ever, was a great mistake, as the dog, at once recog- 
nizing his voice, and not knowing as yet the meaning 
of “Go on,” would much rather have come back to 
the one who had so thoroughly won his friendship. 
Seeing him beginning to act ugly and obstinate, the 
Indian driver drew his heavy dog-whip and was 
about to strike him. This Frank hotly resented, and 
so the Indian quickly recoiled his whip and quietly 
waited to see what the young white master wanted 
to do. Frank’s quick intellect was at work. He 
Avas a wide-awake, kindly lad, with a love for as well 
as a knowledge of dogs, and so when he saw this 
young dog so resolutely pull back at the sound of his 
voice, thus showing that he would rather come to- 
ward him than run from him, he instantly made up 
his mind that he could be broken in by kindness and 

persuasion. Quickly he resolved upon his own plan 
41 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

of action. Ordering the Indian driver to stop the 
train, Frank speedily ran to Mr. Ross with an urgent 
request for another train of old dogs. Mr. Ross, 
who was at once interested by the intense earnestness 
of the lad, speedily granted him his request, although 
as yet he could not understand the reason why two 
trains were desired, where one was generally con- 
sidered sufficient. 

Very quickly did willing hands harness up a train 
of old dogs and attach them to a dog-sled. 

“Now,"’ said Frank to the driver of them, ^‘you 
drive on ahead of that other train and let me ride 
with you.’^ 

Orders having been given to the driver of the 
train in which Monarch was harnessed to follow 
after, Frank, who was now on ahead and in plain 
sight, began calling to his dog to follow. To this 
call he at once responded, and as the train in which 
he was harnessed was allowed to come alongside of 
the first Monarch was rewarded by receiving from 
his master’s hands some dainty bits of meat. There 
was no trouble with him after this. No matter how 
fast the first train was now driven, with head and 
tail up, on came Monarch, with as much vim and 
dash as the best of the old dogs with which he was 
harnessed. When it was thought that he had had 
enough exercise for that day, and as they were about 
two miles from home, they rested for a few mo- 
ments, during which Frank spoke kindly to his dog 
and fed him with the remaining pieces of meat. Be- 
fore leaving he gave orders to the driver of the train 

in which Monarch was harnessed to wait until he 
42 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

and the other train would have time to reach home. 
Monarch, as he saw the other train leaving, became 
very much excited and was eager to follow. He 
was, however, restrained by the driver, as were the 
other dogs. All sleigh dogs of any spirit hate to be 
thus left behind, and so when the word ‘‘Marche!” 
was uttered they sprang forward with a will. Mon- 
arch being as eager as any of them. 

In the meantime, when Frank with the one train 
of old dogs returned to Sagasta-weekee, he was met 
with laughter and quizzing remarks from both Alec 
and Sam. Coming as he did without his young 
dog^ they could only imagine that he had met with 
complete failure and had given up the business in 
disgust. Mr. Ross, however, older and more expe- 
rienced, after one searching glance in Frank’s 
triumphant, satisfied face, surmised something bet- 
ter, and so was prepared for the lad’s triumph, which 
soon came. 

Frank very good-naturedly took the guying of his 
comrades, but his eyes were along the trail made by 
the sled from which he had just alighted. Keen 
was his vision then, and alert his eye, and so when 
the coming train was still far away he knew by their 
rapid pace that he had triumphed. Turning to Mr. 
Ross, he triumphantly exclaimed : 

“There they come, and Monarch as eager as any 
of them, and no whip has ever touched his back, or 
ever will.” 

It did not take the rapidly advancing train long to 
reach the now” interested group of spectators. 

Frank’s triumph was complete. None could have 
43 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

imagined that the finest-looking dog in that train, 
that bore himself so proudly, had that day for the 
first time ever had a collar on his neck. Yet such 
was the case, and as Frank petted and unharnessed 
him warm and sincere were Mr. Ross’s congratula-^ 
tions. 

From that day forward Monarch was a model 
sleigh dog, and never failed to respond to the voice 
of his new master, whose kindly tact had saved him 
from the lash. 

There was still time before lunch for another ex- 
periment or two, and so Alec suggested that Sam, 
who wanted dogs full of fun and tricks, should make 
the next choice. 

Sam, nothing loath, selected a handsomely built 
dog with the queerest combination of colors. He 
had a bright, mischievous-looking eye, and it was 
evident that he had a good opinion of himself. His 
small, erect, pointed ears, his foxlike muzzle, and 
his curly, bushy tail told that there was a good deal 
of the Eskimo in him, and therefore until better ac- 
quainted with the paleface he would not have much 
love for him. Sam soon found this out. At Mr. 
Ross’s request Kinesasis skillfully threw a lasso over 
him and brought him out of the kennels. This un- 
dignified procedure considerably ruffled his temper, 
and so when Sam, in sweet simplicity, took up a 
harness and endeavored to put it on him the dog 
viciously sprang at him and buried his teeth in the 
heavy moose-skin mitten of the hand which Sam was 
fortunately able to quickly throw up, thus saving 
his face from injur3^ Mr. Ross and others sprang 
44 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

forward to help the lad, but Sam’s Irish was up, and 
as the lasso was still upon the dog’s neck, and his 
teeth had only cut through the tough leather without 
injuring his hand, he cried : 

‘‘Please let me have the satisfaction of conquering 
him alone.” 

Suddenly throwing himself forward, Sam seized 
hold of the lasso, and, tightening it about the dog’s 
neck, he quickly tangled him up in the loose coils 
and managed to throw him on the snowy ground. 
Seizing the harness, he dropped down upon the 
excited, half-choked animal, and, guarding his hands 
against his snappy teeth, he managed to get the collar 
over his head. But the work was not yet completed, 
and Mr. Ross, seeing the danger the boy was in of 
being badly bitten by the now furious animal, or- 
dered a couple of Indian men to his assistance. He 
highly complimented Sam, and said that in getting 
the collar on such a dog he had succeeded well. The 
Indians cautiously but quickly muzzled the dog, and 
then, letting him get up, they finished Sam’s work 
of harnessing him. The next thing was to get him 
into the train with the other dogs, and this proved to 
be no easy matter. 

“Give him a name,” said Alec. 

“Spitfire !” shouted out Sam, and by this name he 
was ever after known. 

He seemed to have an idea that his personal liberty 
was being interfered with, and so he resisted every- 
thing done by Sam or the dog-drivers. When by 
main force he was placed in position and the traces 
were fastened he made most violent attempts to es- 
45 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

cape. He struggled first to one side and then to the 
other in his frantic efforts. Then he tried to crawl 
under and then over the dog in front of him. Failing 
in this, he suddenly sprang forward with such force 
that he managed to seize hold of the short, stumpy 
tail of the dog in front of him. This was an 
unfortunate move on his part, as the dogs that are 
accustomed to work together will readily fight for 
each other when one is in trouble. So before Sam 
or the Indians could interfere, if they had been so 
disposed, the dogs ahead of Spitfire, hearing the cry 
of pain from their comrade, quickly turned upon him 
and gave him a thorough shaking. When the In- 
dians thought he had had enough they interfered, 
and once more straightened out the dogs. 

Spitfire was most decidedly a sadder, if not a wiser, 
dog as the result of his rashness. But, poor fellow, 
his troubles were not yet over, for the old sleigh dog 
behind him was also indignant at the attack upon the 
tail of his old comrade, and so he was also resolved 
to mete out some punishment to the rash young 
offender. This was just what the Indians wanted, 
and so, telling Sam to jump on the sled with them, 
they shouted, “Marche !” to the head dogs, while the 
old fellow behind sprang at Spitfire. 

At first the young fellow, seeing that he could 
not get away, had resolved to balk, but when the big 
dog with fierce growls made his desperate efforts to 
seize hold of him he was glad to spring as far away 
as his traces would permit. The result was that be- 
fore he knew what he was about he was rapidly gal- 
loping in unison with the rest of the train. Sam 
46 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

kept him at it until he was so tired that all the venom 
and fight were worked out of him. If for an instant 
he tried to act ugly or break loose, all Sam had to do 
was to call on the sleigh dog to attack him. This 
was quite sufficient and Spitfire surrendered to the 
inevitable, and in less than three hours had well 
learned his first lesson. 

To conquer the dog’s repugnance to Sam, and to 
make them fast friends, Mr. Ross had him, when 
taken out of the harness, fastened up in a dark root 
cellar without any supper. The next day Sam went 
in to bring him out, but was met only with savage 
growls. 

‘^All right,” said Mr. Ross, “it seems hard on you 
for the present, but it will be better for you in the 
end;” and so the heavy door was shut, and Spitfire 
had another twenty-four hours in solitude and quiet 
to ponder over his ways. The next day, as directed 
by Mr. Ross, in whom he had all confidence, Sam 
suddenly threw open the door, and, while the dog 
was still blinking in the sudden sunshine that poured 
in, Sam without any hesitancy or fear strode in and, 
unchaining him, led him out and up to an abundant 
supply of food and drink. 

Spitfire was conquered, and from that day he and 
Sam were the best of friends. A few more lessons 
in the harness, with a growling, cross sleigh dog 
behind him, made him one of the best and fleetest of 
the train. 

Sam, who was quick to utilize a good thing when 
he observed it, saw in this dislike of this old sleigh 
dog to having fresh young dogs ahead of him just 
47 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

the assistance he needed; and so, although he se- 
lected three other dogs, that at first were about as 
ugly and intractable as Spitfire had been, he was able 
in this way to subdue them all with firmness and 
patience, and he not only made them his affectionate 
friends, but he became the master of one of the most 
spirited trains in the country. They were obedient 
and quick to respond to Sam’s calls upon them, but 
woe to anyone else who tried to drive them when the 
spirit of mischief or contrariness which was in them 
showed itself. 

Alec had stated that he wanted a swift train for 
the fun and excitement of fast traveling. It was 
fortunate for him that Mr. Ross had some young 
dogs with a large strain of the Scottish staghound in 
them. The pure staghounds are unable to stand the 
severe cold of the long winters, but the mixed breeds 
at Sagasta-weekee, while retaining much of the 
speed of the staghound, had a rich, warm coating of 
fur-like hair. Still, they enjoyed a warm blanket 
when the weather was very severe. The young, 
untrained ones were very wild, and when Kinesasis 
attempted to bring out from the kennels a beautiful 
one that he had lassoed, and which Alec had fancied, 
the frightened, agile creature jerked the lasso out of 
his hands, scaled the walls, and dashed away over 
the snowy fields. To have followed him would have 
been absurd, as the frightened dog if pursued would 
have continued his flight until he had reached the 
distant island where he had spent the summer. 
Kinesasis knew a better plan than that, and so he 
quickly let loose about a half dozen sagacious old 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

dogs, trained by him for such work, and quietly told 
them to go out and bring that young wanderer back. 
The frightened dog, after running several hundred 
yards, when he saw that he was not being followed, 
slackened his pace and more leisurely continued his 
journey. He would, however, frequently stop and 
look about him, and especially back toward the place 
he had so abruptly left. 

Soon he saw the dogs that Kinesasis had sent out, 
and that were now gamboling and playing with each 
other. He was attracted by the sight, and stopped 
his flight to watch them. They were apparently not 
noticing him in their sporting with each other, but 
they were nevertheless drawing nearer to him. At 
first he was inclined to be suspicious of them, but this 
soon left him, and he seemed to become pleased to 
greet them, as doubtless he had already begun to feel 
lonesome, for the dog is indeed a social animal. 
When once he was thrown off his guard it was not 
long ere the trailing lasso was seized by the teeth of 
a couple of the most sagacious dogs, who imme- 
diately started on the return trip. The rest of the 
dogs followed growling in the rear of the runaway. 
When necessary they used their teeth upon him, and 
so they soon brought him, cowed and submissive, to 
the hands of Kinesasis. 

Tame elephants take great delight in helping to 
capture and subdue wild ones, but not greater is their 
satisfaction at their successful work than is that of 
old dogs who are trained to it when they have a 
share in the capturing or breaking in of obstinate, 
refractory dogs. 

4 


49 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

The boys enthusiastically expressed their surprise 
as well as admiration at this wonderful cleverness on 
the part of these trained dogs in capturing the 
runaway. They were also amused at their evident 
delight at the success of their efforts. 

“Yes,” said Mr. Ross, “and if that young dog had 
been able to elude them, either by keeping out 
of their reach, in the first place, or by slipping the 
lasso over his head and thus escaping from them, and 
they had had to return without him, they would have 
been thoroughly ashamed of themselves, and would 
have skulked off to their kennels.” 

“I have read,” said Frank, “that that is the way 
the St. Bernard dogs in the Alps act if they are 
unsuccessful in bringing any belated or lost traveler 
back to the monastery, when they are sent out by the 
monks to search for any in distress. They are very 
proud if they succeed, but if they fail to find anyone 
they skulk back ashamed of themselves and sulk in 
their kennels for a couple of days, or even longer.” 

Alec, taking advantage of the methods adopted 
by both Frank and Sam, and other plans suggested 
by Mr. Ross, at length succeeded in breaking in his 
four dogs. He had the misfortune to have one of 
them, on account of his small head, squeeze himself 
out of his harness and escape. Great difficulty was 
experienced in capturing him, and then even when 
conquered he at times gave endless trouble by slip- 
ping his collar and skulking in the rear. 

Another of his dogs, when being broken in, made 
the most desperate efforts to cut himself loose with 
his teeth. He ruined in this way some valuable bar- 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

ness, and several times cut the traces of the dogs in 
front of him. Having exhausted the patience of 
Alec, he received a first-class whipping ere he 
stopped trying these tricks. 

In about a month the dogs were thoroughly trained 
and seasoned to their work. Frank clung to Mon- 
arch as his favorite, while Sam and Spitfire were 
almost inseparable. Alec, true to the romantic love 
of his country, made the runaway his favorite and 
called him Bruce. His other three he named Wal- 
lace, Gelert, and Lome. 

51 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 


CHAPTER IV. 

Numerous Dogs — Useful Animals — Food Supply — Frozen 
Fish — Bringing Them Home — Vigorous Work for Boys and 
Dogs — Frank’s Tumble — Sam’s Ducking — Skating Parties — 
Alec’s Thrilling Adventure — The Race for Life — Northern 
Gray Wolves — Their Cunning — Their Various Stratagems — 
Mr. Ross’s Fears — The Search Party — Alec Rescued — The 
Wolves Shot. 

It may seem strange to some of our readers that 
such numbers of dogs were kept by Mr. Ross. It 
must be remembered that they were, in those re- 
gions, the only animals in those days that were of 
any use to man. 

So abundant were the fish that the dogs were kept 
with little expense. The lakes and rivers so swarmed 
with them that a few gill nets and an Indian could 
easily take care of a large number of dogs during the 
summer months. For the winter supply an immense 
number of whitefish were caught just as the winter 
was setting in. These fish were hung up on high 
stagings beyond the reach of wolves and stray, 
prowling dogs. So intense and steady was the frost 
that the fish, which immediately froze solid after 
being hung up, remained in that condition until well 
on into the next April. Such a thing as the tem- 
perature rising high enough to even soften the fish 
was almost unknown. The result was the fish were 
kept by this great preservative, the intense frost, in 
prime condition for both the people and the dogs. 

On account of their abundance, and the ease with 

52 



Alecks Race with the Wolves, 







IN THE Great Lone Land 

which they could be obtained, they were for many 
years the principal article of food. 

The Indians take but little care of their dogs in 
the summer time; they literally have to fish for 
themselves, and very clever are some of them at it. 
So abundant are the fish, and so clever are the dogs 
in capturing several varieties that haunt the marshes 
and shallows along the shores, that the dogs easily 
secure sufficient numbers to sustain life and even 
grow fat upon. On these fishing excursions the 
Indian dogs often wander over a hundred miles 
away from the wigwams of their masters, and are 
gone for months together. 

While quantities of fish were being caught during 
every month of the year — for even in the coldest 
parts of the winter they could be caught through 
holes in the ice — yet the actual fall fishery season 
only lasted a few weeks. On this fishery everybody 
depended for their principal winter supply. It gen- 
erally began a short time before the ice set, and con- 
tinued about as long after. The fish, which were 
principally whitefish, were all caught in gill nets. 
When brought ashore they were stabbed through 
the flesh near the tail. Through this incision a 
sharp-pointed stick was inserted. Ten were always 
thus hung up on each stick, with their heads hanging 
down. While still warm a single slash of a sharp 
knife was given to each fish between the gills. This 
caused what little blood there was in them to drip 
out, and thus materially added to the quality of the 
fish, and also helped in its preservation. 

The work of bringing these thousands of fish 
53 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

home was clone by the dog-trains. It is heavy work, 
as each train of four dogs was expected to draw 
twenty sticks of fish at each load. However, the 
track was generally all ice, and so it was much easier 
than traveling in a forest trail in the deep snow. 
Six hundred pounds are considered a good load for 
four dogs on ordinary trails. 

As Mr. Ross’s fishermen had hung up about fifty 
thousand fish, besides packing a large number of the 
finest ones in ice or snow, there was considerable 
work for the trains in dragging them home. The 
work is so steady that it is considered capital train- 
ing for young dogs. Of course, they are not at first 
given as heavy loads as are the old trains. The boys 
were allowed to go with their trains about three 
times a week. This was quite sufficient for them, 
for, although they rode on the empty sleds, wrapped 
in a buffalo skin, on the outward trip to the fishery 
camp, yet they felt in honor bound to imitate the 
Indian drivers of the older trains, and walk, or 
rather trot, as much as they could on the return with 
their heavy loads. 

The kind-hearted Indians, while admiring the 
pluck of the boys when, on the first trip, they urged 
for heavier loads, wisely and firmly insisted that 
they should take light ones to begin with. 

‘This is only fun,” said Alec, “just running on 
the ice. I have walked all day in the Highlands, and 
was all right the next day. I want a full load, for I 
intend to run the whole distance on the home 
stretch.” 

“Twenty miles on ice, with some slipping and 
54 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

falling and managing a lively clog-train, will seem a 
long journey ere it is ended,” said Mustagan, a 
grand old Indian who that year had charge of the 
work of bringing home the fish. 

Frank thought that with his strong dogs he could 
take more than Sam or Alec, but even to this Mus- 
tagan objected. 

‘‘Yes,” he said, “fine big dogs, but very young, 
bones still soft. Big loads by and by, but not now.” 

“I wish we had brought our skates,” said Sam, 
“and then we would have had no trouble in making 
the twenty miles.” This, it was unanimously agreed, 
was a capital suggestion, and one that would be car- 
ried out on future trips. 

So in the meantime they decided to carry out 
Mustagan’s recpiest and only take light loads. The 
wisdom of this was seen before they had gone many 
miles. The gait at which the old, experienced dogs 
struck out, and which was kept up by the drivers, 
as well as by the dog-trains of the boys, was alto- 
gether too rapid for them. 

Very gamely they kept up the pace for four or five 
miles, when Mustagan called a halt for the first pipe. 
His observant eyes had been on the boys, and while 
he was pleased with their pluck, he was too wise to 
allow them to injure themselves; so, taking the mat- 
ter into his own hands, he so arranged the sticks of 
fish on their sleds that, with the aid of the buffalo 
skins, he made for each a comfortable seat. It is 
not surprising that the boys were willing to accept 
of the situation, and, while on the remainder of the 
trip they rode a good deal, they often sprang off and, 
55 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

by the vigorous exercises of keeping up with the 
Indians on their famous jog trot, kept themselves 
warm, and also put in a good deal of training to fit 
them for longer journeys. 

On future trips to the fisheries, as long as the ice 
kept free of snow, they carried with them their 
skates, and not only on the home trip with loaded 
sleds, but even on the outward journey, did they 
have some capital sport. Alec especially was a 
splendid skater. Coming from Scotland, where they 
had so much more ice than there was in England or 
Ireland, he had had greater opportunities for be- 
coming an adept in this exhilarating sport. He was 
very much amused at the temper and annoyance of 
his dogs when, on a fine stretch of smooth ice, he 
would dash away from them at a rate which it was 
impossible for them to keep up. They would make 
the most desperate efforts to travel as fast as he did. 
When they realized the impossibility of doing this, 
hampered as they were by their heavy load, they 
would at times set up a most dismal cry that was 
a cross between a bark and a howl. At other times 
some of the dogs would think that one of the 
train was shirking his work, and then they would 
unmercifully pile on him and give him a sound 
thrashing. 

Well was it for Alec that he had these splendid 
skating trips ; unconsciously was he preparing for a 
race for his life. 

On one of these home trips Frank, while sitting 
on his load, wrapped up in his buffalo robe, went 

to sleep. He was all right while the sled was going 
56 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

along in a straight trail, but at one place the road 
turned at a sharp angle, and here he had a sudden 
awakening. The ice was firm and the dogs were 
going at a good speed. When they reached the sharp 
turn the sled slid around at a great rate, and poor 
Frank, who like the other boys had when awake 
securely hung on to the straps on other trips, was 
now so fast asleep that when the sled flew around 
he was sent in the air at a tangent, and then went 
sprawling on the ice quite a number of yards away. 
Fie was well shaken up and badly bruised. After 
that he took good care to take his naps on the sleds 
in less dangerous places. 

Sam had a worse adventure than that. One day, 
while running behind and driving his train and 
cheerily talking to his dogs, he had the misfortune 
to step through the thin ice into an air hole. He 
fortunately had presence of mind enough to throw 
out his arms, and so, as the hole was a small one, he 
only went in up to his armpits. That, however, was 
c|uite enough, as the temperature was many degrees 
below zero. Fie was speedily pulled out and cared 
for by the Indian drivers. They quickly threw all 
the fish from Alec’s sled, and, taking the three buf- 
falo robes which the boys were accustomed to use 
on the outward trips, carefully wrapped Sam in 
them, and securely tied him on it. Then they said : 

^‘Now, Master Alec, here is your chance to show 
the speed of your dogs. Hang on securely yourself, 
and see how quickly you can make the ten-mile trip 
from here to Sagasta-weekee.” 

Alec needed no other incentive than the desire to 
57 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

get his beloved Sam home as quickly as possible. 
The boys all dearly loved each other, and a serious 
accident to one gave sorrow to the other two. The 
cold was intense, and it was necessary that Sam 
should be taken home as speedily as possible. The 
weight of the two boys was but little to the active- 
spirited dogs, and so when the sharp cracks of the 
whip sounded around them, but not on them, and the 
urgent cries of “Marche! Marche!’' with unusual 
emphasis kept ringing out from the lips of their 
master, they seemed at once to realize that some- 
thing unusual was the matter ; and as it was also on 
the home stretch, away they flew at a rate that soon 
left the heavily loaded sleds far behind. 

In less than an hour’s time the distance was 
covered. Sam was soon in the hands of loving, ex- 
perienced friends who knew just what to do, and so 
in a day or two he was out again, none the worse for 
his adventure. 

The skating was simply perfect. Just fancy miles 
and miles of ice, smooth as glass and stretching out 
over lake and river in every direction; no pent-up 
little pond or skating rink where in a few hours the 
ice is ruined by the crowd or melted by the rising 
temperature. Here were great lakes and rivers of 
it that lasted for months. Lakes full of beautiful 
islands, whose shores not long ago were lapped by 
the murmuring, laughing waves, are now gripped, 
as in fetters of steel, by the Frost King. In and out 
among them glide the merry skaters. Everybody in 
that land big enough skated, and skated well. 

Jolly parties from the fur-trading posts and mis- 
58 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

sion home joined with others in making merry 
groups, who for hours at a time engaged in this joy- 
ous and exhilarating sport. Sometimes several 
young gentlemen in the service of the Hudson Bay 
Company would come over from the fort and join 
them in their moonlight excursions. So glorious 
were the surroundings, and so exhilarating the 
sport, that the nights would be far spent ere they 
thought of returning home. 

There seemed a strange fascination in seeking out 
new places and exploring untried branches of the 
great rivers, which seemed like streams of molten 
silver in the bright moonlight as they stretched away 
into primitive forests, where the trees on the shores 
hung heavy with icicles, or were so bent under the 
weight of snow that, at times, they looked like 
ghostly visitants from dreamland. 

As the days passed on these skating excursions 
were much more extended, and as the skaters began 
to get familiar with the different routes the vigilance 
which was at first kept up, that none might go 
astray, was much relaxed. When there were any 
indications of a storm or blizzard it was well under- 
stood that no skater was to go out alone, and even 
then not beyond some well-defined landmarks. 
However, when the weather seemed settled, and the 
sun shone brightly by day and the moonlight was 
clear and beautiful at night, no positive restraint 
was upon anyone. Thus, day after day, they mer- 
rily skated in little groups or in pairs as they desired. 
Sometimes one would dash off alone, and for hours 
amidst the weird, picturesque surroundings, such as 
59 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

a skater alone can find in such a land, would, in the 
very intoxication of his bliss, push on and on, with- 
out any idea of the progress of time or of the dis- 
tance he was traveling. 

To Alec, the Scottish lad, there came one beauti- 
ful moonlight night an experience which nearly had 
a tragic ending. The night was one of rarest 
beauty, but it was very cold, so cold that Mr. Ross 
remarked that the moon looked more like burnished 
steel than silver. As the merry party started out he 
warned them to keep their furs well around them 
or severe frostbites would be theirs, in spite of the 
vigorous exercise of rapid skating. 

The company of half a dozen or so kept together 
for a time, and then, in joyous rivalry, shot out and 
in along the icy stretches between the granite, fir- 
clad islands that on that lake were so numerous. As 
further they advanced they became more and more 
separated, until Alec found himself alone with a 
young clerk from the trading post, who prided him- 
self on his skill and speed as a skater. He had been 
considered the champion the previous winter, and 
naturally wished to retain his laurels. Finding him- 
self alone with Alec, whom he thought but a novice 
compared to himself, he endeavored to show off his 
speed, but was very much annoyed and chagrined to 
find that, skate as rapidly as he would, the Scottish 
lad kept alongside and merrily laughed and chatted 
as on they sped. Ruffled and angry at being so easily 
matched by Alec, the clerk abruptly turned around 
and skated back. Alec was at first a little hurt by 
this discourteous action, but this feeling quickly 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

wore off as on and on he skated, fairly entranced by 
the beauty of his surroundings and the excitement 
of his sport. After a time he noticed that the lake 
was abruptly ending. Just as he was about to circle 
around and begin the return journey he saw the 
mouth of a beautiful little ice-covered river which 
ran up into the forest. The ice looked so smooth 
and was so transparent, as there it lay in the beauti- 
ful moonlight, and he was so fascinated by the sight, 
that he could not resist the impulse to dash in upon 
it. On and on he glided, on what seemed to him 
the most perfect ice that skater ever tried. He did 
not appear to observe that this glassy, winding river, 
on which he was so joyously skating, was gradually 
narrowing, until he observed the great branches of 
some high trees meeting together and cutting off the 
bright moonlight. Skating under these great shad- 
owy branches, with the glinting moonlight here and 
there in great patches of white upon the ice, alter- 
nating with the shadows, was a new experience, and 
very much did he revel in it, when 

What sound was that? 

It must have been only the falling of some drift 
of snow from an overloaded branch, or a broken 
branch itself, and so, although Alec was startled at 
hearing any sound amidst these almost noiseless 
solitudes, he soon recovered his spirits and dashed 
on along the narrowing, crooked stream ; but — there 
it is again ! And now as Alec quickly turns his head 
and looks he sees what blanches his face for an in- 
stant and shows him the peril of his position. Four 
great northern gray wolves are skulking through 

6i 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

the snow on the shore, and already their eyes are 
gleaming in triumph, and their mouths are watering 
for their prey. Quick as a flash he turns, and so do 
they. Well is it now that the sturdy lad, on his 
native lochs in Scottish winters, had practiced every 
movement, and had become an adept in twisting and 
rapid turning on his skates. He will need it all to- 
night, as well as the hardened muscles of his vig- 
orous sports since he came to this wild North Land; 
for the wolves will not easily be balked in their 
efforts to capture and then devour. The very fact 
of there being four of them seemed at first in his 
favor, as the instant they turned they appeared to 
get in each other’s way. In the brief delay thus 
caused Alec was away and was increasing his speed 
every instant. But he is not to be let off so easily. 
Looking behind, he sees that two are coming on in 
their long, galloping, speedy way. Where are the 
other two ? Soon enough will he know. 

As we have stated, this little river was very 
crooked. The cunning wolves well knew this, and 
so a couple of them made a short cut through the 
woods, to intercept their prey at a spot ahead of him. 
As an inspiration, the quick-witted lad took in the 
situation. He had heard much already about the 
cunning of these gray wolves in hunting in relays 
the moose and other species of deer, and by having 
some of their numbers sent on ahead or stationed in 
narrow defiles to intercept their prey. So, suspect- 
ing the trap being laid for him, he made up his mind, 
if possible, to reach that danger point before those 

wolves. It was a long sweep around, like a horse- 
62 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

shoe, and he had to make the whole distance round, 
while they had but to cross the tongue of land. He 
had to traverse at least twice the distance that the 
wolves had to go, but then he had the advantage in 
being on the ice, while they had to loup through the 
snow. Still, there were no risks to be taken. For 
an instant the thoughts came, as he heard the faint 
thud, thud on the ice of the fleet wolves behind him : 
What if anything should happen to my skates? Or 
if I should get in a crack in the ice? But he quickly 
banished these thoughts as unworthy. He had all 
confidence in the splendid skates on his feet, and saw 
with delight that he was emerging from the last 
place where the trees entirely hid the bright moon- 
light. Every crack and dangerous place could now 
be easily seen and guarded against. 

On and on he fairly flew. The wolves, in spite of 
their desperate efforts to keep up, were being left 
further and further behind. At this Alec rejoiced; 
but his heart fairly jumped, and fear for an instant 
again seized him, as there suddenly burst upon his 
ears the blood-curdling bowlings of many wolves. 
It was begun by those in the rear. It was answered 
by others that seemed ahead of him. It was re- 
echoed back by others that appeared to be further 
off. Looking back, he observed that the two that 
had been following him, when they had finished 
their bowlings, suddenly disappeared in the forest, 
evidently bent upon some new plan of attack. 

No wonder that the plucky lad felt that this was a 
crisis in his life, and that if ever he had his wits 
about him they were needed now. As the result of 
63 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

his early teachings, and the memory of his godly 
mother, there sprang from his heart and lips a whis- 
pered prayer: “God of my mother, remember her 
boy to-night and he felt that he was not forgotten. 

Like as with fresh soldiers on the battle field, so 
now, that the first terror had come and gone, a 
strange spirit of exhilaration came to him, and 
seemed to nerve him for the race. He had no 
weapon with him, not even a stick in his hand. His 
wits, his skates, and his powers of endurance must 
be his reliance in this unique encounter. As well 
as he could he endeavored to recall the different 
windings in the river, and the places where he was 
likely to be attacked later on, if he escaped the spot 
where he felt sure the next effort would be made by 
his cunning foes. 

Rapidly as he was skating, his quick eye caught 
sight of two of his foes. They were crouching to- 
gether on a snoAv-covered rock that almost overhung 
the edge of the stream where it was narrowest. To 
endeavor to escape by such fierce brutes, now so 
aroused by having once missed him, would have 
been madness. To have retreated would have been 
certain death. Quick as a flash came the ruse to 
Alec. Dashing up, with a shout that was a chaL 
lenge, he made as though he were going to fly by, 
but the instant before he reached the spot where his 
quick eye saw they would spring upon him he 
whirled upon the heels of his skates. That instant 
they sprang upon the spot where their instinct told 
them he ought to have been. He was not there, 

however, but a few vards in the rear; so they missed 
64 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

him, and with the momentum of their spring went 
sprawling out on the smooth ice. Another turn on 
the skates, as quick as the first, and Alec was by 
them ere they could recover themselves. Thor- 
oughly baffled and furious, they were speedily in 
pursuit, and it required all of Alec’s effort to much 
increase the distance between them and himself. 
Several times they cut across short necks of the little 
river, and once so near did they get that the snap- 
pings of their terrible teeth were distinctly heard. 
One long stretch more, then a double twist, like the 
letter S in the river, and he would reach the lake. 

Alec was heated now; his clothes were wet with 
perspiration, in spite of the bitter cold. That some 
wolves were ahead of him he was certain. Home 
was far away. The other skaters had long since 
returned from their outings. Around the great 
blazing fireplace Mr. Ross had more than once said : 

‘T am sorry that Alec has remained out so late.” 

Unknown to the rest of the family, some hunters 
had reported to him that already tracks of wolves 
had been seen in the hunting grounds not many 
miles away. These brutes are always very vicious 
in the beginning of winter. Their summer supplies 
of food are cut off, and the deer have not yet begun 
to run and thus leave their tracks in the woods. 
When another hour had passed on Mr. Ross could 
stand it no longer, and earnestly exclaimed: 

‘‘Who saw Alec last?” 

The young clerk who had been last seen with him, 
and who had not as yet returned to his trading post, 
said : 


5 


65 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

‘T left him near the other side of the lake.” 

Mr. Ross was indignant, but there was now no 
time for anything but action. Short and stern were 
his orders. Alec must be sought after at once. 
Hastily rousing up three trusty Indian servants, he 
and they were soon out on the lake. All were on 
skates and armed with guns. A few dogs were al- 
lowed to accompany them, among them being Alec’s 
train. Mr. Ross wisely judged that if they once 
struck his tracks, such was the love they had for 
him, they would soon find him, even if he had 
become bewildered and lost his bearings. So, while 
Alec was still in danger, help was coming. 

Fortunately for him, the river was wider now, 
and his eyes were so alert that he could detect his 
foes, even when quite a distance from them. He 
was thus able to see through the disguise of a couple 
of them that lay crouching out on the ice, trying to 
look like the little piles of snow that the eddying 
winds had gathered. Still, although he saw them, 
and by another clever ruse flew by them, yet so 
close were they to him, when they sprang at him, 
that some of the froth from the mouth of one of 
them fell upon him. 

To his surprise, these two did not long follow 
him, but sprang into the gloom of the forest and 
disappeared. In the last half of the S-like river Alec 
was now speeding. He felt confident that if he 
could once reach the lake he would be able by speed, 
and perhaps some quick dodging, to elude them ; but 
this last portion of the crooked river troubled him, 

and made him doubly cautious. 

66 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

There is need for it all, for look ! There are now 
not less than a dozen of them, and they are so 
arranged on the ice and on the shore that there is 
apparently no escape. Those strange howlings, so 
blood-curdling and so weird, which the first pair of 
wolves uttered were understood by others, and here 
they are, ready and eager to join in the attack and to 
divide the prey. 

They seem so confident now, and so loudly do 
they howl that the great high rocks echo back the 
doleful music. To Alec it was now the martial 
music that only sharpened his faculties and made 
him more cautious and more brave. Boldly skating 
up to them, he suddenly turned, when almost in their 
clutches, and instantly started back up the river as 
rapidly as he could skate. On and on he fairly flew, 
until, owing to the bend in the river, he was com- 
pletely out of their sight. Then skating near to one 
of the shores he pushed on a couple of hundred 
yards or so. Crossing over to the other side, he 
quickly turned to a spot where, sheltered by a large 
tree, he was securely hid in the deep shadow, which 
was in sharp contrast to the bright moonlight near 
him. In this retreat he had not long to wait ere he 
saw the wolves, evidently disconcerted, but coming 
on his trail. They were stretched out quite apart 
from each other, and covered such a distance that he 
saw that those in front would be doubling back on 
him ere all had passed. However, he was confident 
that so suddenly could he dash out that, by skillful 
dodging on the glassy ice, where the wolves would 

not have much of a foothold, he could elude them. 
67 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

It was a trying moment for the boy, as on the op- 
posite side of the tree, which rose up directly out of 
the ice, he heard the measured steps and even the 
heavy breathings of the cruel monsters, not fifty 
yards away. Fortunately, there was no wind to 
carry the scent from him to them, and so they did 
not detect his stratagem. When about half of them 
had passed, with a dash and a shout he was off. So 
completely taken by surprise were they that those 
nearest to him made no attempt to stop him. The 
two or three in the rear savagely tried to block his 
way and sprang at him, but signally failed to reach 
him, as Alec skillfully skated round them and sped 
onward toward the lake. Furious indeed were those 
that had passed him and felt themselves robbed of 
their victim. Outwitted were they all, but not yet 
discouraged. Wolves can run with great swiftness 
on the smoothest ice, and although, as we have seen, 
they cannot turn quickly, and can be dodged by a 
clever skater, yet for a straight go-ahead pace they 
are not to be despised by the swiftest runner. Then 
their powers of endurance are very great, and so it 
was evident to Alec that they were resolved, by grim 
endurance, to run him down. 

Firmly convinced that there were none ahead of 
him, and that it was now to be a long race, he wisely 
resolved not to so force himself that he could not, if 
need be, keep up a good rate of speed all the way to 
the abode of Mr. Ross. It did not take him long to 
again reach the river mouth, and as he flew past the 
spot where, a few minutes before, his enemies had 

waited for him he could not but see the sagacity 
68 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

with which they had selected the place. He was 
grateful for his deliverance thus far, but he knew 
that there was no time for investigation, for the 
yelps and bowlings distinctly heard told him that 
his foes were hot on his trail and not far behind. 

Out on the lake he dashed, and still on they came. 
Alec is hot and excited now. The strain on him is 
beginning to tell, and he feels it. He knows that 
he could put on a desperate spurt and get far ahead, 
but would they not, with that long, steady louping 
of theirs, gradually creep up again, and, finding him 
about exhausted, make a desperate spurt, and thus 
run him down? But he is resolved to succeed, and 
so he nerves himself and carefully speeds along, 
while perhaps not five hundred yards behind are 
those merciless pursuers that will not be shaken off. 
In this way about ten miles are passed since the 
mouth of the river was left. Still on and on they 
come. The moon is now sinking low, and the 
shadows are weird and ghostly. Auroras, phantom- 
like, flit in the northern sky, while some of them 
seem like frightened spirits flying before avenging 
enemies. The sight is depressing to Alec, and so he 
turns his eyes from beholding them while still on he 
speeds. 

Hark! What is that? It is like the bark of a 
dog that is instantly hushed. To Alec it seemed a 
dream or an illusion ; and yet he could not help put- 
ting on a spurt of speed and veering a little out of 
his course to see the rocky islands, surrounded by 
the smooth ice, from which the dog’s bark seemed to 
come. As he swiftly dashed along, how suddenly all 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

things changed to him, and quick and swift was his 
deliverance. There was Mr. Ross with his three 
Indians and a number of dogs. 

Alec was saved. He had fairly run into his de- 
liverers. But no time was to be lost. Fortunately, 
a high rocky island for a moment hid the wolves, 
that were now following wholly by the scent. 

With their double-barreled guns, loaded with 
balls, the three Indians rapidly scaled the rocky isle, 
on the opposite side of which they would be hid and 
yet within easy range of the wolves as they came 
along on Alec’s trail. Mr. Ross and Alec had all 
they could do to quiet the dogs and keep them still, 
as some of them were eager to follow the Indians. 
Only a few minutes elapsed, as Alec’s spurt had only 
put him a half a mile or so ahead of the wolves, 
when the guns rang out once, and then again as the 
second barrels were fired. Let loose the dogs now, 
and let everyone shout for the rescue and the vic- 
tory! Five wolves were killed outright, and one 
was so badly wounded that the dogs soon ran him 
down and dispatched him. The other wolves turned 
and fled. Mr. Ross would not, at that hour, allow 
any pursuit of them. 

The morning star was shining ere home was 

reached, and Alec was the hero of the hour. 

70 





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Dog-traveling under Auroral Lights.^ 




IN THE Great Lone Land 


CHAPTER V. 

The Invitation to the Indian School Examination and Sports 
— Trapping Experiences — The Cunning Cross-fox — Frank 
Seeking Aid from Memotas — Method of Successful Trap-set- 
ting — Joyous Trip to the Mission — An Abiding Christian Civ- 
ilization for the Indians — Sanvs and a Young Indian’s Novel 
Hunting Methods — Wild Cats Captured — The Queer Battle 
Between a Fox and a Wild Cat. 

When the boys returned home from a splendid 
outing on their skates they were greeted by Mr. 
Hurlburt, the missionary from the Indian Mission, 
who cordially invited them all to the half-yearly ex- 
aminations at the school, which were to be held the 
Friday before Christmas in the forenoon, and then 
would follow the usual games among the Indian 
boys in the afternoon. 

The boys soon found that Mr. Ross and the mis- 
sionary had been long discussing the matter, but had 
as yet come to no decision as to the different games 
in which the white boys might, if they so desired, 
compete with the Indian lads. 

Alec, of course, wanted to enter for the dog-race 
and the skating. Frank wanted to try his skill with 
the snowshoes, but Sam gravely shook his head and 
said he feared he would be lonesome ere the race 
ended. 

‘‘Well, what will you enter for?” said Frank, as 
he turned to Sam after this sally, which had set 
everybody laughing. 


71 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

“Indeed I don’t know, unless it should be tobog- 
ganing,” he replied. 

This also caused a good deal of amusement, as 
Sam’s efforts in this line thus far had not been much 
of a success. He had caused a good deal of fun and 
some excitement by the extraordinary way in which 
his toboggan had several times shot out of the regu- 
lar route and gone off on some erratic lines, perfectly 
oblivious to the interests of life and limb. He had 
one strong characteristic: he would hang on no 
matter which way or to what place his toboggan, 
under his erratic steering, flew with him. Once, in 
the middle of a hill, it shot off at a tangent and ran 
over an Indian woman. So unexpected was the 
attack, so deep was the drift into which she was 
hurled, and so rapidly did the flying toboggan get 
out of sight, that the poor, superstitious old woman 
ever after declared that it could have been no other 
than the Muche Manetoo, the Evil One, that struck 
her. 

As a couple of weeks would elapse ere the day for 
the examinations and sports would arrive, the matter 
was left in abeyance as to the sports in which the 
boys should enter. A cordial acceptance of the 
invitation was of course intimated. 

In talking the matter over afterward it was de- 
cided that only in one race or sport should each of 
the white boys enter. The number was limited as 
the Indian boys were numerous, and it might per- 
haps cause jealousies. So it was finally decided that 
Alec should try with his dogs in the four-dog race, 

Frank should be a competitor in the skating match, 
72 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

and Sam, with Spitfire, should contend in the one- 
dog race, or else enter in the skating backward 
contest. 

From knowing the skill of the Indian boys in 
everything else, Mr. Ross felt that in these selected 
were their only chances of success. Of course, it 
was felt that Alec should have been in the skating 
contest, but as it was essential that each owner 
should drive his own dogs, and Alec had such con- 
fidence in his now splendid team and was so proud 
of them, he decided in favor of his dogs. 

Mr. Ross’s advice to them all was to keep them- 
selves in good trim for any sudden emergency that 
might turn up, especially if it should happen that the 
young gentlemen in the Hudson Bay Company’s 
service should decide to compete, or should them- 
selves challenge them. 

Full of most exhilarating sport as had been the 
bright sunny days since winter had set in nearly two 
months before this, the incentive of the coming races 
gave a new zest to their sports and pastimes, and so 
there was snowshoeing by day as well as rapid dog- 
traveling under auroral lights by night. 

Among other things, it was arranged with 
Memotas that, as his hunting grounds began not 
many miles away from the place where Sagasta- 
weekee was built, the boys should have the privilege 
of hunting in all that section of the country under 
his guidance when necessary, and as much alone as 
they desired. Mr. Ross secured for them about a 
dozen steel traps apiece, and either he or Memotas 
instructed the lads in the methods of setting them for 
73 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

the different fur-bearing animals, such as mink, 
marten, otter, wild cat, and especially for the dif- 
ferent varieties of foxes that were so abundant in 
those regions. In addition to this they were taught 
how to make the spring snares of fine twine for 
rabbits and partridges. Thus they learned much 
of the habits and instincts of various animals, and 
were delighted and profited by these lessons learned 
out in the school of nature, amidst such favorable 
surroundings. 

When the boys saw the great number of tracks of 
the various wild animals that so speedily packed 
down the snow in runs in various directions through 
the forests, they were sanguine that great success 
would attend their hunting efforts. But as they 
drove in day after day with nothing more valuable 
than some rabbits or a few ptarmigan, or some other 
kind of partridges, they were half-discouraged, and 
told Mr. Ross they were surprised at their poor 
success. 

Frank was especially mortified at his ill success. 
He had for days set his trap for a beautiful cross-fox 
that he had once or twice seen. Nearly every day 
he found his traps sprung and the bait gone. That 
it was the same fox Frank discovered by the fact 
that he had lost part of one of his hind feet. This 
Mr. Ross said doubtless happened long ago in the 
trap of some hunter. The fox had not been quick 
enough to spring away, and had thus been caught 
by part of his foot. If it were in the winter time 
when he was thus caught he doubtless ate the part 
of the foot that was held in the teeth of the trap 
74 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

without feeling any sensation of pain, as the cold 
would quickly freeze it solid. If he were caught in 
the summer time he would use the most desperate 
eftorts to pull himself loose ere he would use his 
teeth, and then, of course, he would suffer much in 
the operation. Hence in the winter time a fox, as a 
general thing, if only caught by one foot, cuts him- 
self off in a few hours, but in summer time he has 
been known to remain in a couple of days. Indians 
often talk of clever three-legged foxes in the 
woods. 

One pleasant day Frank persuaded Memotas to go 
out with him and help him set his traps for that old 
fox that had so long tantalized him by his tricks and 
was getting fat on his bait. This the old man did 
with pleasure, for he had become very much attached 
to Frank. When they reached the place, to which 
they had come on Frank’s dog-sled, the Indian very 
carefully examined the region around for quite a 
distance. He told Frank where the fox’s den was, 
and said that now that he had become so well 
acquainted with Frank perhaps a stranger might get 
hold of him. He asked Frank to show him how he 
had generally set his traps that had been so uncer- 
emoniously sprung and robbed of the bait. This 
Frank proceeded to do, and, as he thought, very 
quickly and cleverly sprung back and baited them. 
Memotas watched him go through all the process, 
and then rather coolly took him down by saying : 

“Good trap, well set, plenty of bait; might perhaps 
catch a puppy or old crow, but never fox.” 

This seemed rather rough on Frank, and he was 
75 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

glad that Sam was not there to improve the occasion 
with some further caustic remarks. 

When the Indian saw that Frank seemed so crest- 
fallen at his comments he at once hastened to assure 
him that they all had to learn much about these 
animals, and now he said : 

“You and I will go to work and see if we cannot 
get that fox in a trap again, even if his half foot tells 
us he has been there before.” 

The first thing they did was to decide where to set 
the traps. 

“Not much hurry, though, about that,” said Me- 
motas. “We must first have a fire to burn all of 
Frank off the traps.” 

This was a bit of a puzzle to Frank at first, but 
when Memotas told Frank that every time he 
handled a trap or a bit of bait he left enough of 
himself on it for the fox to know all that he 
wanted to about him it was more unintelligible than 
ever. 

At a spot about a couple of hundred yards away 
from where the traps were to be set a fire was built. 
When it was brightly burning Memotas cut a long 
pole, and then, springing or setting the trap, had 
Frank fasten a good-sized piece of meat as bait 
securely on with a fine wire. 

“Now,” said Memotas, as he carefully lifted up 
the set trap on the end of his pole, “we will burn old 
Injun and Frank off that trap and bait.” 

Then he held the trap in the fire until the meat 
fairly sizzled and the steel trap was quite hot. 

“Guess all Injun and Frank now have gone up in 
76 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

smoke, so, Mr. Fox, you’ll not find us when you 
come skulking round this trap, anyway.” 

The old man chuckled, and Frank now understood 
what he had meant. 

Meniotas walked very carefully to within some 
yards of the spot where he had decided to place the 
trap. Again addressing Frank, he said: 

“We must not even walk there, for if we did we 
should leave some more of ourselves through our 
moccasins, and Mr. Fox would then be too sharp 
for us.” 

Giving Frank the pole with the trap on it to hold 
for a few minutes, the old man quickly moved back 
to a spot where some tall, slender live balsams were 
growing. Cutting one down, he trimmed off all the 
branches except a mere broomlike tuft at the top, 
taking care all the time not to touch any of those 
remaining with his hands. Returning with this 
long, broomlike affair, he vigorously used it on a 
spot some yards away. Then he took the long pole 
from the hands of Frank, and there in that place, 
thus brushed out, he carefully and skillfully laid the 
trap. Then with the long brush he deftly swept 
back a thin layer of snow over the trap and bait. 

“Now, Frank,” he said, “set the rest of your traps 
as you have been doing these past days, but do not 
go near that one we have just arranged.” 

This operation was soon performed by Frank in 
the different places suggested by Memotas. In 
carefully investigating these spots the fox would be 
apt to get caught in the one that had in it, as the old 
fellow put it, “no Frank or no Injun.” 

77 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

By a roundabout route they started for home. At 
nearly every place where Frank had set his snares 
for rabbits or partridges he was successful in finding 
game. At a couple of places the snares themselves 
were gone and the snow was badly trampled down. 
Here Memotas’s knowledge came into play, and he 
showed Frank where a wild cat had seized a rabbit 
just as it had sprung into the snare, and then both 
had struggled and the spring pole had been dragged 
twenty feet or so before the strong twine had been 
broken. In another place the feathers strewn 
around showed where a fox had been too quick for 
Frank and had taken the partridge which had been 
caught. 

Thus they pushed on, and at length reached home. 
A good dinner awaited them, and then Frank har- 
nessed up his dogs again, and, hitching them to a 
beautifully painted cariole, took Wenonah and 
Roddy out for a splendid ride. The day was cold 
but brilliant. The little folks were well wrapped 
up in their beautiful furs, and so the drive over to 
the mission and back was much enjoyed. 

At the mission house they went in for a short call 
on the family, where they were always welcome. As 
they could not remain for dinner a five-o’clock tea 
was quickly prepared and much enjoyed. When 
about to begin a great jingling of bells was heard 
outside, and to the delight of all in came Mr. and 
Mrs. Ross, who had been driven over by Alec and 
Sam. It seems the boys had both returned from 
their hunting routes shortly after Frank had left 
with the two children. After a hasty lunch they had 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

coaxed Mr. and Mrs. Ross to let them drive them 
over, and so a couple of carioles were soon attached 
to their different trains. Plenty of robes were put 
in, and now here they all were, and, as always, were 
most cordially welcomed. 

They spent a couple of hours with the members of 
this delightful family, who here as missionaries were 
doing such a blessed work, even if it were one of 
self-denial and at times sufferings. But Mr. and 
Mrs. Hurlburt, their two young daughters, and Miss 
Adams, the lady teacher, were so proud of the In- 
dians, and of their genuine kindly ways, that they 
were happy and contented with their lot. 

During the brief two hours spent at the home this 
afternoon, as well as on many other occasions, the 
boys had opportunities to see evidences of their kind- 
nesses and tangible love to the sick and hungry ones 
who looked so much to them. Not only did they 
find in Mr. and Mrs. Ross real friends to help them, 
but by their very substantial contributions they made 
the missionary and his family the almoners of many 
gifts much needed by the poor Indians. 

Genuine Christians themselves, the owners of 
Sagasta-weekee did much to help in the spiritual up- 
lifting of the people from the degradation and super- 
stitions of a cruel paganism into the blessedness and 
enjoyments of a genuine Christianity and an abiding 
civilization. 

The time quickly sped by. They had some earnest 
chat, a few delightful hymns and songs of the home- 
land, and then a brief but earnest prayer for Heaven’s 
blessing on loved ones far away, upon themselves in 
79 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

that land and their different work, and also upon the 
Indians. 

Then the dogs were roused, the carioles arranged, 
and the passengers were soon all aboard. The boys 
took their places firmly standing on the tailboards of 
the sleds that projected in the rear. Grasping the 
tailropes, with which they held themselves on and 
guided their carioles, simultaneously they cried, 
“Marche!” and with a spring they were all off 
together. 

They had three splendid trains and were not badly 
matched for a short spurt. So amidst shoutings 
and laughter in the beautiful gloaming of that lovely 
evening they fairly flew over the icy expanse of 
Playgreen Lake. But blood will tell, and it was 
soon evident that although Alec had Mr. Ross as his 
passenger, and therefore the heaviest load of the 
three, he was surely forging ahead. With those 
long, houndlike legs, these round-barreled, small- 
headed, keen-eyed dogs need not take any second 
place in that crowd, and so it is that, catching the 
enthusiasm of the hour, and springing in unison with 
each other, they respond to Alec’s cheery call, and 
seem to pick themselves up and so fly over the rest of 
the route to Sagasta-weekee that in placing them all 
that could be said was, “Alec first, the rest 
nowhere.” 

“Well done, Alec,” said Mr. Ross, as he sprang 
out of the cariole. “If you equal the speed of the 
last two or three miles in the race with the trains of 
the village and the fort, I think the blue ribbon of 

first place will be yours. But where is your cap ?” 

8o 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

Happy Alec! He had been so excited with the 
splendid speed of his dogs, and the perfect unison of 
their movements, that he did not seem to be con- 
scious of the fact that the capote of his overcoat was 
hanging down his back and that his cap had left him 
a mile or two back on the ice. However, his abun- 
dant curly locks had been sufficient for him during 
the excitement of that blood-stirring race. He 
speedily pulled up the capote over his head, and Sam, 
who had seen his cap fall and had hastily snatched 
it up as his cariole flew by, now came up and restored 
it to him. 

Frank, with the children, was the last in. His 
heavy dogs, while the strongest, were not so adapted 
for rapid traveling as the others. 

"‘Well, we had the longest ride,” said Roddy; “you 
folks went so fast you did not have such a nice long 
time as we did.” 

This happy way of looking at it pleased every- 
body, and all voted Roddy to be a philosopher. 

The Indian servants had the dog-fish all ready, 
and so it was not long ere the twelve dogs were 
enjoying their well-earned supper. 

When they had all entered the house the boys, as 
usual, were anxious to know of each other’s success 
during the day. Not only had Frank, as we have 
described, gone out to his traps, but Sam and Alec 
had also driven some miles to the places where they, 
apart from each other, were also trying their skill 
in trapping various kinds of fur-bearing animals. 

Sam had gone out for several days past in com- 
pany with a son of Memotas. He was a bright 

6 8i 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

young fellow, and he and Sam had suddenly become 
very confidential. It was evident that they had 
some great scheme on between them. What it was 
nobody seemed quite able to make out, and so their 
curiosity was much excited, especially when Sam 
had been seen in close converse with the cook, and 
had then after a hasty visit to the cellar hurried away 
with young Memotas. To make matters worse, 
Sam had dropped a couple of large onions ere he 
reached his sled. Then one of the maids said she 
heard him asking the mistress if she had any oil of 
bergamot, and if there was any castoreum left in the 
house. They did not get much information from 
him that night, and, strange to say, he was the first 
one after dinner that proposed bed. Before daylight 
a trusty servant called him, as Sam had desired, and 
even then, early as it was when he came down, young 
Memotas was there awaiting him. 

Mrs. Ross insisted that both Sam and young Me- 
motas should have a good, warm breakfast ere they 
started out. It is very dangerous indeed to start off 
in the morning without a good, warm, generous 
meal. While the two boys were eating their break- 
fast a trusty Indian called out Sam’s dogs, and now 
there they stood longing to be off. They did not 
return until the afternoon, and then they proudly 
brought in two prime wild cats which they had 
captured. .Sam that evening told how that he and 
young Memotas had found the tracks of them some 
days before, and that they had been busy ever since 
making a dead fall, and the last day or so they had 

been decoying them to the place by the scent of 
82 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

onions. This would bring them into the vicinity of 
the trap; but he said that he remembered reading 
somewhere that some animals were attracted by ber- 
gamot, and so he begged a little from Mrs. Ross, and 
sure enough there the two wild cats were securely 
caught. The weight of the logs had been increased 
by heavy stones, and so, he added, ‘The animals 
were quite dead when we reached them. As there 
were other tracks around we have been busy ever 
since making traps of the same kind.” 

Alec had not accomplished much beyond finding 
the frozen part of the hind foot of a marten in one of 
his steel traps. He noticed which way the animal 
had gone, and so, taking a couple of dogs out of his 
sled, he put them on the trail, and to his surprise and 
delight they quickly ran it down. He rescued it 
from them as speedily as possible. It was quite 
dead, but its beautiful fur was uninjured. 

Frank was eager to be off again with old Memotas 
to see the result of the new method, to him, of trap- 
setting for a cunning old fox. But Memotas, who 
was wise and experienced himself, said : 

“Wait one day more yet. That old fox not going 
to walk into that trap the first day, nor perhaps the 
second day. You have been well feeding him on 
plenty of bait, and he not a bit hungry. But when 
he get hungry perhaps he go prowling round to see 
if his friend hasn’t come with any more bait for him. 
For foxes get to know traps that seem just set for 
them to live from.” 

This was all rather hard on Frank, but he had come 
to see that it was all true, and so he patiently waited 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

until the old man came in and said he thought per- 
haps they might go and see if that fox was still 
playing any of his tricks. The train was soon har- 
nessed, and away they flew over the icy lake, and 
then into the forest trail. On and on they went, 
until they came near the spot where the traps had 
all been set. Every one that Frank had set was 
sprung and empty, and the one that Memotas had 
set with such care was missing! Nowhere could 
Frank see it or any trace of it. Memotas quickly 
stepped out a hundred feet or so, and then began 
walking in a circle around the spot. He had not 
more than half completed the circle before he quickly 
called to Frank, who at once hurried to his side. 
Pointing to a peculiar spot in the snow that had been 
much disturbed, Memotas said : 

‘T think fox caught with both fore legs in the 
trap. He is now walking away on his hind legs and 
holding up the trap in his mouth. See, there he walk 
on two legs! See, there he rest!” And the old 
man began to hurry on, closely followed by Frank, 
to whom he explained every movement the fox had 
made. 

‘“'Must be a fine big fox to get away so far with 
the trap on both fore feet,” said Memotas. ‘‘But 
listen!” 

A strange snarling-like sound fell on their ears, 
and with it something like the fierce yelping of a 
fiery young dog. IMemotas had quickly dropped 
flat on the ground in the snow, and Frank crouched 
beside him. The old man whispered to Frank to 
give him his long hunting knife. 

84 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

‘‘Some other animal, wild cat perhaps, meet fox, 
and they fighting. Keep still, I must go back to the 
sled for the gim.’’ 

Without making the slightest noise the old man 
glided back, and was soon lost to sight. 

Fortunately, there was a dense clump of evergreen 
balsam or spruce trees between the contending ani- 
mals and Frank. Then they were so absorbed in 
their own quarrel that they were not very alert in 
watching for others. , However, Frank knew enough 
to keep perfectly still, although he confessed he 
clutched the knife several times more firmly as the 
blood-curdling snarls of the wild cat pierced the air 
so near. Soon Memotas was back again, and then 
the question was to get a successful shot at the wild 
cat, as it was evident the fox was sure enough. At 
first Memotas crawled forward closer to the trees, 
the branches of which, laden down with snow, 
reached to the ground all around. Carefully peer- 
ing through the dense branches, he gaxed intently 
for a time, and then he silently beckoned Frank to 
come. Noiselessly he crawled up beside Memotas, 
and after his eyes had become accustomed to the 
work he was able to see the two animals not more 
than two hundred feet away. The two fore legs of 
the fox were securely fastened in the steel trap, 
which seemed to have closed on him about four 
inches up from his feet. The wild cat was a fierce 
old male, and was doing his best to get a good grip 
on the fox. This the fox was resolved not to let 
him have, and so he kept his face toward his foe, 
and whenever the latter would spring at him the fox 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

would suddenly raise himself, and, throwing up the 
trap so securely fastened on his fore legs, would 
bang it down with a whack on the head of the wild 
cat. With a snarl the cat would suddenly back off 
and arch up his back and snarl worse than ever. It 
was the queerest battle that Memotas had ever wit- 
nessed, and every time the trap rattled on the head 
or body of the wild cat the old man fairly quivered 
with excitement and delight. To Frank the sight 
was also the oddest and queerest he had ever even 
heard of. At one vSkillful parry the fox, although so 
terribly handicapped, was able to give the cat a 
whack that sent him fairly sprawling in the snow. 
At the sight of this Frank had to crowd his fur 
mitten into his mouth to prevent him from fairly 
shouting out : 

“Well done, old fox!’’ 

Why they remained so in this one open place, 
Frank now saw, was because the fox was fearful 
that if he got in among the fallen logs or the rocks 
the wild cat would have the advantage, and thus 
succeed in springing upon his back, while he, so 
hampered, could make but little resistance. All at 
once Frank saw the animals cease both the attack 
and their noises. Memotas, quick and alert, sud- 
denly brought his gun into position, and the next 
instant, as Frank heard the jingling of distant bells, 
there also rang out the report of the gun, and the 
wild cat tumbled over dead. 

Springing up, Memotas called Frank to follow, 
and together they quickly hurried after the fox, that 

was now again desperately striving to get away. 

86 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

Memotas did not wish to injure the valuable skin by 
piercing it with a ball, and so, picking up a heavy 
clublike branch of a tree, he quickly killed the fox 
without breaking the skin. 

A few minutes after Alec drove up along the trail. 
He had visited his traps and snares, and had decided 
to take this trail on his way home. His bells were 
the ones heard by the two fighters. Well was it 
that Memotas’s quick ears also heard them, and that 
he was able to fire before the wild cat had fled into 
the forest. 

They were soon all on their way home again. The 
fox was a great beauty, and although it was a cross, 
yet it was so nearly black that a large sum was given 
for it. 

For many a day after Frank talked and laughed 
about that oddest of all fights, the one between the 
trapped fox and the fierce old wild cat. 

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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 


CHAPTER VI. 

The Winter Birds of the Great Lone Land — The Whisky 
Jack — The Ptarmigan — Their Beds in the Snow — Mission 
Visits — Cupid’s Darts — The Wood Supply — Primitive Way of 
Capturing Partridges — Great Snowy Owls — Methods of Cap- 
ture — Sam’s Experience — The Fearful Grip of the Owl’s Claw. 

“Where are your singing birds?” said Sam one 
morning as he came in from having taken Wenonah 
and Roderick out for a drive with the dogs. “We 
have traveled over a dozen miles and have not heard 
a single bird song.” 

“Only a whisky jack,” said Roderick. 

This reply of Roderick’s made everybody laugh ; 
for the shrill, harsh cry of the Indians’ sacred bird, 
called by the very unpoetical name of whisky jack, 
is not very musical, but just the reverse. 

“Our singing birds are all in the sunny South 
Land during these cold months,” said Mr. Ross. 
“We have multitudes of them during our brief sum- 
mer time. Then, at the first breath of the Frost 
King, they flit away and leave us so still and quiet.” 

“What about this saucy bird, here called whisky 
jack, that we meet with on all of our wintry jour- 
neys ?” asked Alec. 

“Well,” replied Mrs. Ross, “you see, in the first 
place, that he is not very handsome. His bluish-gray 
plumage is not very attractive, but he has an inner 
coating of black down, and if you could strip him of 
both of these jackets you would find him to be a very 

small bird after all. The Indians used to call him 
88 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

their sacred bird. They never kill one, no matter 
how hungry they may be. They have some beauti- 
ful traditions associated with him. His voice, so 
harsh and loud, is, according to some legends, the cry 
of a fair maiden who, fleeing from a hateful suitor, 
was lost in a blizzard. In vain she called for her 
own sweetheart, until her once musical voice became 
so harsh and rough that it lost its beauty. To pre- 
vent her from falling into the hands of her hated 
suitor, just as he was about seizing her the magi- 
cians changed her, in answer to her prayer, into a 
bird, and this is the whisky jack.” 

“Our next most interesting winter bird,” said Mr. 
Ross, “is the ptarmigan, or white partridge. The 
colder the winter the more numerous they seem to 
be. They are easily snared, like the rabbits, as they 
have certain favorite runs, and do not seem to ob- 
serve the twine or wire loops into which they so 
foolishly run their heads.” 

“Where do they sleep at nights?” asked little 
Roderick. 

“Faith, and I know,” said Sam; “for was I not 
fairly frightened out of my wits by a lot of them one 
night when traveling late to the camp to drive over 
a snowdrift into which they were burying them- 
selves ? I saw them fly up high in the air, and then, 
like a stone, they just shot themselves down and 
buried themselves out of sight of myself and those 
who were with me.” 

“Yes,” said Alec, “and I well remember how they 
startled me several times as they were getting up out 

of these queer beds in the deep snow away out from 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

the dense woods. It always occurred very early in 
the morning, shortly after we had left our camps in 
the woods, where we had spent the night. I could 
hardly get used to the start they gave me, as some- 
times they flew right up from under the feet of my 
dogs. They seemed like wee ghosts, they were so 
very white, and my dogs as well as myself were dis- 
turbed by their uncanny ways.’’ 

“Do they go back to the same snowdrifts night 
after night?” asked Frank. 

“No,” said Mr. Ross; “they are birds that move 
around a good deal, and as far as the Indians’ obser- 
vations go the same flock or covey never sleep twice 
in the same place. If they did the foxes and other 
animals that are very fond of feeding on them would 
soon discover their retreats, and would make short 
work of them.” 

Thus the days and weeks passed by. Sometimes 
all the boys, with Mr. Ross and a number of Indians, 
would be away on some great excursion after the 
bears or beavers. At other times shorter trips 
would be arranged, when but one or two of the boys 
would go. 

Then there were the home sports and frequent 
visits to the traps and snares. The dogs were kept 
busy, and the skates and snowshoes were not for- 
gotten. 

The visits between Sagasta-weekee and the mis- 
sion were very frequent, and it began to appear as 
if Cupid had donned a fur ermine coat, or a feather 
mantle, and had made a flying visit and fired a 

couple of his darts into the hearts of Frank and 
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IN THE Great Lone Land 

Alec, and on these darts were the names of the two 
lovely daughters of the missionary. Whether this 
be true or not, or only a rumor brought by a relay 
of gulls, we cannot say, but Mrs. Ross affirmed that 
never since their arrival at Sagasta-weekee were 
these two young gentlemen so particular about their 
personal appearance, or so anxious to find some good 
and valid reason why they should be sent over to 
the home of the missionary. It was also remarked, 
by those who saw their two beautifully painted cari- 
oles made ready for the trip, that an extra soft fur 
robe or two were placed therein. Their skates were 
sometimes also carried along with them. It was 
also further remarked that they generally preferred 
starting early in the day, and it was an actual fact 
that, although the whole round trip need not have 
taken more than three or four hours, they generally 
did not return until long after dark. Rumors 
also reached Sagasta-weekee that on several occa- 
sions two beautiful carioles, with lovely white young 
ladies cozily wrapped up in costly furs, and driven 
by handsome young gentlemen, had been met with, 
fairly flying over the great icy routes, while the air 
was full of happy laughter that sounded very much 
in unison with the music of the little silver bells that 
hung on the collars of the splendid dogs. And fur- 
thermore, it was well known that among the skating 
parties Frank and Alec were generally found skat- 
ing with these same two young ladies. Their expla- 
nations were that their skates seemed to glide more 
in unison with each other, and in fact that there was 
a sort of affinity between them. Then their joy was 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

complete when Mrs. Ross invited the whole family 
from the mission to come early and spend the day 
with them at Sagasta-weekee. It was remarked 
that these two young gentlemen generally had word 
that the devoted missionary had been using his dogs 
very much lately on his long trips among the distant 
bands of Indians, and it would be a capital idea for 
some of them to drive over with their fresh trains 
and bring back some of the family. This happy 
suggestion was of course carried out, but it was 
observed that the carioles of the aforesaid young 
gentlemen, when they returned, only had in each of 
them a sweet-faced, beautiful young lady, and they 
said that the trip had been “perfectly lovely !” 

What happy days those were! To Frank and 
Alec had come their first young lovedreams, and 
they were pure and sweet and stimulating. Cynics 
and crusty, disappointed old bachelors might make 
fun of these youthful lovers and make some sarcas- 
tic remarks ; still, after all, where is the noble, 
healthy, splendid young man of fifteen or sixteen 
that has not safely passed through these same or- 
deals and as a general thing survived? So let Frank 
and Alec have these daydreams and. thus enjoy 
themselves. They will be none the worse, but rather 
the better, when the ordeal is over, as it is with those 
who safely get through with a lingering attack of 
the measles or scarlet fever. 

One day Mr. Ross sent old Mustagan out into the 
woods to select a place where the next year’s supply 
of wood could be obtained. His instructions were 

to find a dense forest of tall, symmetrical trees from 
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IN THE Great Lone Land 

which a trail or road could be easily made to 
Sagasta-weekee. Then choppers would be sent in, 
and some acres of this forest would be cut down and 
there left to dry for twelve months. The result 
would be that at the end of the year’s time the trees 
would be in splendid condition for firewood. The 
next operation was to have these trees all cut up in 
lengths that could be easily handled, and then 
dragged home by the dogs on their long sleds when 
there was abundance of snow on the ground. 

Sam asked for the privilege of accompanying 
Mustagan. As the walk was only a few miles, the 
old Indian was pleased to have the bright young 
paleface go with him. As they were to go through 
the forest, where there was not as yet the first ves- 
tige of a trail, they at once strapped on their snow- 
shoes. Mustagan’s only weapon was his ax, while 
Sam carried a small rifle. Very much sooner than 
they had anticipated they found a suitable grove, 
the limits of which Mustagan at once proceeded to 
mark off with his ax. These few marks thus made 
on some of the trees were all that was necessary to 
secure the property. 

They had seen but little game, and so all that Sam 
had fired at had been a passing rabbit or ptarmigan. 
While on the home trip a beautiful covey of par- 
tridges came flying by them and lit in a large balsam 
tree but a few hundred feet in front of them. 

wish I had brought a shotgun instead of this 
rifle,” said Sam. “I think we might have had more 
than one of those partridges.” 

Suppose we try and get them all without any 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

gun,” said Mustagan, in a tone that seemed to indi- 
cate perfect confidence in the experiment. 

‘Tf we get two of them before they fly I will be 
delighted,” said Sam, as he raised his gun and tried 
to get a shot at two in a line. However, before he 
could fire Mustagan quickly stopped him and said: 

'‘No, no, not that way. I will show you how. 
Step back and keep still, and see how our fathers 
used to get them before the white man’s gun came 
into the country.” 

Sam naturally thought of the bow and arrows, but 
as Mustagan had none along he wondered if the old 
man was going to quickly try and make some. In 
the meantime Mustagan had quietly slipped back 
into a grove of tall, slender young trees that grew up 
like great fish poles. Here he quickly cut down one 
that could be easily handled by a strong man. This 
he rapidly trimmed of all its branches, and then 
quietly returned with it to the spot where Sam was 
watching the birds. Stooping down to one of his 
moccasined feet, Mustagan untied the deerskin 
string with which the moccasin had been securely 
fastened around his ankle to keep out the snow. Cut- 
ting off a piece about two feet long, he again fastened 
up his shoe, and then, with the string thus secured, 
began to make a snare out of it. He first tied one 
end of the string securely to the smaller end of the 
long pole; then in the other end of the string he 
made a running slip noose, which he arranged so 
that it would be about four inches in diameter. Then 
began the strangest part of his proceedings, and one 
only possible in a land of such intense cold. Taking 
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IN THE Great Lone Land 

his hand out of his mitten, Mustagan wet his fingers 
with his saliva and then immediately rubbed it on the 
deerskin string. As fast as it was thus wet it froze 
as stiff as wire, and stood straight out from the stick. 
Rapidly did the Indian thus wet the whole string, 
the loop of the slip noose included, until the whole 
stood out as though made of steel wire. Then, 
cautioning Sam not to move, Mustagan, carrying 
his long pole with this uniquely formed noose on its 
end, moved cautiously and quickly under the tree in 
which the partridges were still sitting. Carefully he 
began raising up the pole until it was higher than the 
head of the partridge nearest the ground. Then he 
deftly brought it so that the noose was directly over 
the head of the bird. With a quick jerk he pulled 
the pole down with the head of the bird in the noose 
of the string, which, of course, tightened with the 
sudden jerk. Mustagan quickly killed the bird by 
crushing in the skull. Then, loosing it from the 
string, he rapidly went through the whole process 
again of moistening the string with his saliva and 
arranging the noose as before. In this way he suc- 
ceeded in securing the whole covey of those par- 
tridges. From his favorable position Sam watched 
the whole operation, and was much delighted with 
the success of the old Indian, who had in this way, 
without the loss of one charge of powder, or even an 
arrow, secured ten or a dozen fine, plump partridges. 
On their way home, in answer to Sam’s many ques- 
tions as to his reasons for adopting this method 
of capturing the partridges, the Indian stated that 
the secret of his success in getting them all was the 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

fact that he began by catching in his noose the bird 
lowest down. “When you do that,” he added, “the 
birds above think that as those below them go down 
they are just flying to the ground to see what they 
can find to eat. Never take a bird that is higher 
up in the tree than any other. If you do you get no 
more. The rest will at once fly away.” 

Another bird that remains all winter in those cold 
North Lands is the great snow-white owl. His 
wonderful covering of feathers, even down to the 
toes, enables him to defy the severest frost. He 
generally sleeps by day in some dense balsam tree, 
and then is ready, when the sun goes down, for his 
nightly raids upon the rabbits and partridges. He 
is also fond of mice, and as there are some varieties 
of these active little creatures that run around a good 
deal even in the winter, and at night, the owls are 
ever on the lookout for them, as well as are the 
foxes. Sometimes these great white owls in their 
night huntings fly far away from their usual resting 
places. Then they are in great trouble, especially if 
there are no trees with dense branches among which 
they can hide. If the bright sun happens to peep 
up over the horizon ere they are safely stowed away 
in some shadowy place, they are at the mercy of any 
foe. Sometimes they alight on the icy or snowy 
surface of the lake. They are then easily captured. 
When a clever Indian dog-driver sees one thus 
standing out on the ice he quickly stops his dog- 
train, and, running toward the bewildered owl, gets 
on the side on which the sun is shining. Then he 

makes sufficient noise to keep the owl excited and 
96 


IN TPiE Great Lone Land 

looking toward him. In doing this the owl has to 
let the bright, brilliant rays of the sun shine right 
into his great, staring eyes. The man, with nothing 
but his long whip in his hand, keeps approaching, 
taking care, however, that his shadow does not fall 
on the bird. If he did, that instant the owl would be 
off. »So the man keeps enough to one side to have 
the owl always in the brilliant light. The result is 
he does not see the approaching man. When near 
enough the man uses his whip in such a way that the 
long lash winds itself suddenly around the neck of 
the owl, and he is thus captured. 

When better food is scarce these large owls are 
eaten by the Indians. Some are so fond of them 
that they are ever on the lookout to capture them. 
They have several methods by which they catch 
them. One is to fasten an upright pole securely in 
the ice. On the top of this is nailed a little board, 
and on this is set a steel trap or snare. The owls get 
tired with their constant flying about, and, seeing 
this handy resting place, are then quickly caught as 
they alight upon it. Another method was explained 
to Sam by an old Indian hunter, and with some help 
in securing the material they had a great deal of fun 
in trying it. The first thing they did was to make 
a great black rag mouse about as big as a beaver. To 
this was added a tail about five feet long. Then to 
the nose of this great bogus mouse was attached one 
end of a large ball of twine. This was the whole 
outfit, except, of course, the guns. One evening an 
Indian arrived with the news that at a certain place 
the great white owls had been seen in numbers, and 
7 . 97 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

perhaps it would be a good place to go and see what 
could be done in capturing sorpe. As it was a very 
pleasant evening and the place mentioned was not 
very far away, Sam had little Roderick packed with 
him in his cariole, and with the mouse, ball of twine, 
and gun, and attended by one of the Indian servants, 
they drove over to the spot. The big mouse was 
placed on the snow as far out from the shore as the 
string would allow. The dogs with the cariole were 
driven into the shadow of a large spruce tree that 
grew on the very edge of the lake. Here the Indian, 
with Sam and Roderick, although completely hidden 
in the shade, could see distinctly everything outside, 
for the moon was now up and shining with wondrous 
beauty. For a time they remained there under the 
tree in complete silence. Then the clear vision of the 
Indian enabled him to be the first to detect the 
presence of an owl. 

“Hist !” he quietly uttered, and then as he pointed 
out the object they were able to see a great owl sail- 
ing round and round up in the air, perhaps fifty feet 
directly over the big black bogus mouse. Suddenly 
he made a swift dive down for it. But at that in- 
stant the Indian, who had hold of the end of the 
cord, gave it a sudden jerk and pulled the mouse in 
a dozen feet or so nearer to them. This apparent 
big jump of the mouse seemed to disconcert the owl, 
and so he quickly flew away. But it was only for a 
moment, and then back he came. Round and round 
in circles he flew, getting nearer and nearer all the 
time, when once more he dashed down on the big 
mouse. But another sudden jerk had pulled the 
98 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

mouse out of his reach, and so the owl failed once 
more. 

“Get your gun ready,” said the Indian to Sam; 
“he will be mad now, and so we will soon have him 
near.” 

It was just as the Indian had predicted. The owl 
seemed angry at having been fooled the second 
time, and so when he rose up again and saw that 
great big mouse, which would, to judge by its size, 
make him such a famous supper, he dashed at it 
again most savagely. But once more it jumped 
away from him, as now the Indian kept pulling it in 
like a mouse running away. Seeing this the owl lost 
all caution, and was soon within range of Sam’s gun, 
which speedily rang out its sharp report, and the 
great ghostly bird fell suddenly on the ice not more 
than forty or fifty feet away. 

“Look out for his claws,” said the Indian to Sam, 
who had at once rushed out to secure his game. But 
the warning came too late. Sam, seeing only the 
beautiful mass of white feathers and the great star- 
ing eyes, had reached out his naked hand, from 
which had dropped his mitten, to seize hold of the 
owl. But the savage bird lying there on its back 
was only wounded, and so when Sam’s hand was 
reached out to seize it the very opposite happened, 
for the owl, with one of its terrible talons, closed on 
Sam’s hand with such a grip that the poor boy fairly 
howled from the pain. The sharp claws had pierced 
him to the very bone, with a grip he could not break. 
The Indian, however, quickly came to his rescue, 
and pulling out his keen hunting knife he skillfully 
99 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

encircled the owl’s leg with its sharp edge. This 
severed every sine>v and tendon, and caused the 
claws to be so powerless that they could be easily 
pulled out of Sam’s mangled hand. 

The owl was speedily killed, the wounded hand 
carefully wrapped up, and the return to Sagasta- 
weekee was made as quickly as possible. For weeks 
Sam suffered from his wounds ere they healed, and 
always after, although he shot a number of owls in 
this and other ways, he took good care never to let a 
naked hand come in contact with an owl’s claws. 

Poor little Roderick, who had gone out that even- 
ing in great expectancy of a good time, had had his 
sympathies so aroused by Sam’s bowlings that he 
began crying in sympathy, and kept it up until home 
was reached. 

100 





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Y^ty Glorious Was the Scenery» 





IN THE Great Lone Land 


CHAPTER VIL 

Wounds from Claws versus Teeth Discussed — Mr. Ross’s 
Story of the Battle with the Eagles — Their Mountain Aerie — 
Their Hunting Skill — Their Voracity — The Eaglets — The Con- 
flict — The Result — The Painful Wounds. 

The next day, as Sam was having his hand 
dressed, quite a discussion arose in reference to 
which wounds were the more painful, those received 
from the teeth of wild animals or those from the 
claws. Sam’s present opinion, very decidedly ex- 
pressed, was that those from the claws were the 
worse. This was the general testimony also of the 
Indians when questioned on the subject, one of their 
reasons being that the teeth were smoother and did 
not make such a torn, jagged wound as did the 
claws. Another was that the claws were very much 
dirtier than the teeth, and hence the wounds of the 
claws were much slower in healing than were those 
from the teeth. 

‘‘But what about hydrophobia from the bites of 
the dogs and wild animals?” said Frank. 

To this Mr. Ross’s reply was that that dreadful 
disease was about unknown among them, although 
there were said to have been some cases occurring 
from the bites of the fox. 

“Did not a Governor-General of Canada die from 
the wounds received from the bites of a fox?” said 
Alec. 

“Yes,” replied Mr. Ross. “It was a tame fox, 
but it was supposed that it had gone mad.” 

lOI 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

“Perhaps it had been bitten by a mad dog, and 
then became mad itself,” said Sam. 

“That is in all probability the correct solution of 
the difficult problem, which for a long time troubled 
many medical men and others,” said Mr. Ross. 

“Are there any other birds in this country with 
claws or talons equal to those of this great owl?” 
asked Sam. 

“O yes,” replied Mr. Ross, “those of the great 
eagle, which is the first of all the migratory birds to 
reach us, are more terrible. It is generally seen 
during the March moon, and so the Cree Indians 
call that moon, or month, Mikisewpesim, the eagle 
moon. The Indians prize the feathers of the golden 
eagle very highly. The magnificent war bonnets of 
the great chiefs are made of them, and every war- 
rior of any note is very ambitious to have his eagle 
plumes. They are hunted only for their feathers, 
beaks, and claws. Their flesh is worthless. They 
are very wary birds, and it is indeed a skillful hunter 
who can get within range of one of them by ordi- 
nary stalking. They build their nests, or aeries, as 
they are called, away up on the most inaccessible 
cliffs, where it is dangerous for even the most ex- 
perienced mountain climbers to follow. When not 
engaged in nesting they spend a great deal of time 
in circling around in the bright blue sky, at heights 
so great that the eye can scarce discern them, and 
where the arrow or bullet of the best-armed Indian 
fails to reach them. Indian cunning, however, 
sometimes enables them to capture the eagles in 

traps, and then their beautiful pinions, that had ena- 
102 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

bled them to soar away into the blue heavens above, 
become, next to the scalps of their enemies and the 
necklaces of the grizzly bears’ claws, the proudest 
ornaments with which they can decorate them- 
selves.” 

‘‘Did you ever have one attack you?” said Sam. 

“Or did you ever try to get hold of a wounded 
one’s talons with your naked hand ?” said Alec. 

This latter question caused some laughter at 
Sam’s expense, as at him it was evidently aimed, in 
view of his recent mishap with the owl. Mr. Ross’s 
answer was grateful to Sam, as it stopped the laugh- 
ter and showed that others might make the same 
mistake or meet with similar adventures. 

“Yes, indeed,” said Mr. Ross, “for I can answer 
both questions that way. It was long ago when my 
father had charge of a Hudson Bay trading post 
away west of this, where the Rocky Mountain 
ranges were not very far distant from us. I was 
fond of sport, and went with the Indians on all sorts 
of hunting adventures. Sometimes we would be 
gone for days together, and have all kinds of strange 
experiences. We hunted every kind of wild animal 
that roamed in the prairies, in the foothills, or in 
the mountains themselves. Very glorious was the 
scenery among these magnificent mountains. Once 
when out with some Assiniboines, or Mountain 
Stonies, as they are generally called by the whites, 
we saw a large eagle attack a mountain sheep with 
such fury that the sheep lost its footing and went 
whirling down the mountain side to certain destruc- 
tion. The eagle, instead of swooping down on the 
103 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

quivering carcass, as we had expected it to do, 
dashed at what we now observed for the first time — 
a little timid lamb that its mother had vainly tried to 
defend. The fierce eagle, with an exultant scream, 
fastened its strong talons into the back of the fright- 
ened little creature, and then, flapping its great 
wings, began slowly rising from the rock. We 
watched it as it slowly flew away until it landed on a 
ledge of rocks away up on a mountain side near the 
top. As soon as it landed we observed that there 
was its aerie, for from a clump of sticks some little 
heads were outstretched for food. The eyes of my 
Indian attendants gleamed with satisfaction, and 
they said:. 

“ ^We will soon have your feathers, old Mr. 
Eagle, and that will stop your destroying our moun- 
tain game.’ 

“While the side of the mountain on which the 
eagles had built their nest was quite precipitous, the 
back part was easily scaled, so that hunters with 
level heads could climb, by being careful, up so high 
that they could really look down into the eagle’s 
nest. The nearest point from the nest that we could 
reach was perhaps fifty feet away. We did not, 
however, at once go that near. We did, however, 
crawl near enough to see the fierce, savage way in 
which the old bird tore that young mountain lamb 
to pieces and fed the voracious young eaglets, that 
struggled and fought with each other in their mad 
greed. While they were thus being fed by the old 
male bird we saw the mother arrive with a rabbit in 

her talons. When she saw the feast that had been 
104 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

provided for the young brood she laid the rabbit on 
one side, and patiently waited until her mate had 
satisfied the voracious appetites of the brood. Then 
she and the other eagle tore to pieces the rabbit and 
devoured it, with what was left of the mountain 
lamb. 

'Big dinner all around, everybody full,' said my 
Assiniboines ; 'big sleep next, then old ones go away 
for a big fly, and then we set our traps for them ; but 
while they sleep we eat and sleep too.' 

"We drew back very cautiously into a ravine 
about a quarter of a mile down the mountain side, 
to a place where we had noticed some dry wood, for 
we were not quite above the timber limit. Here we 
made a fire and had something to eat. It was dif- 
ficult to make the tea, as the water, although boiling, 
had so little heat in it at that height on the mountain. 
We unstrapped our blankets and lay down near the 
fire and went to sleep, for we were very weary, hav- 
ing been up some nights before on the lookout for a 
mountain lion that had been lurking about. I woke 
up after a couple of hours' sleep and found that both 
of the eagles had been seen by the watchful Indians 
to fly away from the nest. As the length of their 
absence was very uncertain, the Indians quickly set 
to work to make the snares in which they expected 
to entrap them. Steel traps were unknown in those 
days, and so the Indians had to make theirs out of 
their strong buffalo sinews and deerskin twine. 

"When we went back to the place where we could 
overlook the nest it was evident that there would be 
some difficulty in getting down onto the ledge where 
105 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

the young eaglets lay quietly sleeping. After vari- 
ous trials it was decided that the only way was for 
one of our party to be lowered over and let down by 
the rest. As I was much the lightest one, and as 
the supply of material that we had with us out of 
which to improvise a rope was very limited, I was 
the one selected to go down and put the snares in 
position. It was decided that we would not disturb 
the eaglets to-day, but would leave them alone for 
the present, for fear the old eagles would become 
alarmed and suspicious, and we would fail in captur- 
ing them. The rope, such as it was, held me all 
right, and I landed near the nest. The young birds 
were so gorged with the flesh of the mountain lamb 
that they were very stupid, and hardly stirred. I 
set to work as speedily as possible to arrange the 
snares, so that the eagles would step into them. As 
they were all constructed on the running noose 
principle we knew that they would quickly tighten 
around the feet if once they were stepped into. My 
principal difficulty was in finding places where I 
could tie the other ends of the snares. Eagles are 
very powerful, and can drag by the foot great 
weights. So I knew that all our work would be lost 
if I did not succeed in tying them so that their most 
desperate struggles to get loose would be in vain. 
However, I succeeded at length, and then I was 
hoisted up and we all returned back a mile or so 
and there camped for the night. 

“The next morning, before we reached the spot, 
we heard enough to convince us of the success of 

our scheme. Eagles can make a big noise if they 
io6 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

try, and two captured eagles and some frightened 
young ones were noisy enough as we drew near and 
investigated. Both eagles were firmly caught in 
these snares of rolled and twisted sinews, which, 
although not much thicker than common wire, were 
sufficiently strong to hold them. The Indians 
wished to shoot them at once, but I had long had an 
ambition to own a live, full-grown eagle, and there- 
fore I would not let them fire. The rope of yester- 
day was soon brought into use again, and I was 
lowered down once more to the rocky ledge, armed 
only with a stout club about four feet long. The 
noise was simply deafening that was made by these 
angry birds. The instant I landed they flew at me 
most viciously. Well was it that the strong sinews 
held them firmly. As it was I had a rough time of 
it. I would watch my opportunity and try to strike 
one of them a heavy blow on the head with my club. 
To my surprise I received in return a heavy whack 
from a powerful wing. Their wings were free, and 
the length of the string enabled them to attack me 
from all quarters. Seeing my difficulties, I called 
to my Indians to shoot the female bird, and thus 
leave me but one to tackle. This they did by shoot- 
ing her through the head. This left me but the old 
male bird. I think I could have easily knocked him 
over the head, but my ambition was to capture him 
and to take him home as a trophy. I unfastened the 
noose of the dead eagle, and, tying it to the rope, 
had the Indians hoist it up to the top. Then I made 
the attempt to tie together the legs of the young 

eaglets to have them also drawn up to the summit. 

107 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

What fighters they were! The way they struck at 
me with their little beaks, and in every way possible 
resented my interference with their liberty, was 
wonderful. My hands were sore and bleeding ere 
I succeeded in sending up the last of the four to my 
comrades. I had them throw down the snares, and 
with them I made a kind of a lasso which I tried to 
throw over the head of the vicious bird. As I threw 
it he coolly reached up and cleverly caught it in his 
beak, and snapped it in two as quickly as could a 
pair of scissors. I tried it again, and once more he 
was too much for me. Why he had not cut himself 
loose when in the snare was a mystery to me when I 
here saw how clever he was in cutting my lasso. It 
was looking rather discouraging, and I began to 
fear that he would have to be shot. 

‘‘My comrades had been amused spectators of my 
adventures, and now, seeing me uncertain as to 
what would be my best move, gave me some advice. 
It was this : ‘Untie the other end of the long noose 
that holds him to the rock where you fastened it, and 
tie it to the rope, and we will pull him up and see 
what we can do with him here.’ This plan struck 
me as a capital one, and so I immediately proceeded 
to carry it out. But I had decided on this plan with- 
out taking the eagle into my confidence, and so when 
I began handling the string he flew at me, and with 
beak and wings assailed me. I had foolishly dropped 
my heavy club, and so at flrst was about powerless. 
Fortunately, I had my hunting knife at my side, and 
quickly drawing it I fought for my life. The eagle 
cleverly warded off my lunges at him by striking me 

io8 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

with his wings. Sometimes so heavily did his blows 
rain on me that it was a wonder I was not stunned. 
Apparently gaining courage by his success, he 
seemed to redouble his attacks, and for a time kept 
me wholly on the defensive. Making a sudden dash 
at him with the hope of plunging my knife into him, 
he so cleverly, with one of his wings, knocked aside 
my knife that in my stumble I found I had awkwardly 
cut the noose that bound him. As I knew that his 
talons were now free I presumed he would at once 
avail himself of his liberty and fly away. But he 
had now no such idea. His blood was up, and so 
with a scream of defiance, or triumph, he flew right 
at my face, with his great ugly talons extended, as 
though he would grip me up as he had done the 
lamb. When attacked we naturally will do any- 
thing to save the face, and so the instant he dashed 
at me I threw up my left hand to grasp hold of him 
somewhere. This fortunately arrested his dash 
at my face, and in the next instant I had plunged my 
knife under his outstretched wings into his very 
vitals, and he was a dead eagle. So terrible, how- 
ever, was that death grip on my hand and wrist that 
it was not until I was hauled up with him to the top 
that the Indians were able to set me free, and then 
it was only done by cutting the sinews or muscles of 
each great claw and taking them out of my flesh.” 

‘‘Well,” said Sam, “that is a splendid story; but 
you must have suffered much more than I did, and 
so as regards my little experience with the owl, well, 
I think ril oiild my tongue.” 

And so he did. 


109 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 


CHAPTER VIII. 

Sundays in the Great Lone Land — Services at the Mission — 
By Skiff or Canoe in Summer — By Dog-train in Winter — Na- 
poleon, the Tame Bear, and His Load — Services at Sagasta- 
weekee — Missionary Journeys — Native Ministers — The Queer 
Sermon — Happy Christmas Times — New Year’s, the Great 
Day — Oo-che-me-ke-se-gou — The Kissing Day — Varied Ex- 
periences — The Great Feast — Happy Indians — Thanksgiving. 

Sundays in the North Land ! Yes, there are such 
days, and they come once in seven in the wild North 
Land as elsewhere, and right welcome they are ; for 
they are days of gladness, not sadness — days in 
which loving homage is paid to the loving Father 
who is also the God of nature ; and as nature rejoices 
in his bounteous care and infinite wisdom, why 
should not those in his kingdom of grace also be 
happy in the sunshine of his love? 

^‘Serve the Lord with gladness,’’ was the motto 
of Mr. Ross’s religious life, and everyone under his 
influence or care felt that he was a genuine man and 
a safe leader to follow. His religious life, while 
decided and settled, was unobtrusive and kindly. It 
embraced the two commands, love to God and love 
to his fellow-man. 

The mission some years before established among 
the Indians had been very successful, and a capa- 
cious church was there built. Every Sunday a large 
portion of the family went from Sagasta-weekee at 
least once a day, and there worshiped. The morn- 
ing service was conducted in the English language, 
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IN THE Great Lone Land 

This was done for two reasons : one was for the in- 
struction and profit of all who spoke that tongue; 
the other was that the Indians who were learning 
the language might become the more speedily famil- 
iarized with it. The afternoon and evening services 
were conducted in the Indian language. However, 
if a number understanding the English language 
only happened to be present, both languages were 
used with the help of an interpreter. The church 
was on the shore of a pretty lake, and it was a very 
pleasant sight to see the gathering of the congrega- 
tion. It was one quite different from what is gen- 
erally seen as crowds usually gather for worship at 
the sound of the church bell. Here were no long 
streets, or even common roads or sidewalks. The 
homes of these Indians, both houses and wigwams, 
had been built around the lake shore on the various 
picturesque points, not far from the water’s edge. 
Every family wanted easy access to the lake for 
water, and none of them wished to be far away from 
the landing places where they kept their canoes. 
The result was that it looked on Sundays, when they 
came to the church in groups, as if there were a 
pathway from every dwelling place. Then, as large 
numbers of the Indians lived out on points and 
islands away from the one on which the mission 
premises stood, the people, in the pleasant summer 
time, came from their various homes in their canoes 
to the house of God. Very picturesque indeed was 
the sight, as for an hour or so before the time of 
service the lake seemed dotted with the well-filled 
canoes of the well-dressed crowds of Indian men, 

III 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

women, and children. In winter the scene was com- 
pletely changed. The frost had hid the sunlit, rip- 
pling waves under an icy pavement, as hard as 
granite. Frost and snow and ice were everywhere. 

For the summer Sunday trips to the church Mr. 
Ross had several large sailing boats and safe skiffs 
that would hold all who wished to go to the morning 
service. In one, manned by four sturdy oarsmen, 
Mr. Ross and his family generally went when the 
weather was at all favorable. In winter the dogs 
were all called into requisition, and the sight at the 
church, when on a bright day the crowds were as- 
sembling, was as pleasant and interesting as in the 
summer time, when on the bright waters were seen 
coming the many beautiful, well-loaded canoes. 
From the Hudson Bay trading post there were al- 
ways a goodly number present both in summer and 
winter. The officials and clerks prided themselves 
on the quality of their dogs and the beauty and 
completeness of their carioles and harness. Then 
some of the Indians had very valuable trains, and it 
was interesting to notice the number of persons that 
would be crowded into or on these dog-sleds and the 
strength of the dogs in pulling them. Very primi- 
tive were some of their sleds, and mongrel indeed 
were many of the dogs attached to them. Yet it 
was surprising to see how rapidly even the rudest- 
looking sledges got over the ground. The dogs 
seemed to know that it was the day of religious 
worship, and therefore their duty was to get their 
masters and mistresses to the church with as little 
delay as possible. Then on the return trip, of course, 

II2 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

there must be no delay in getting them back for 
dinner. For some winters a great tame black bear 
used to be attached every Sunday to a long dog-sled. 
He was called Napoleon, and Alec and he became 
great friends. When ordered to start he would dash 
off in his rough galloping way and keep up the one 
steady pace until the church was reached. It seemed 
to make but little difference, such was his strength, 
whether two or ten persons were hanging on the 
sled. At the church he was tied to a post, and there 
quietly remained until the service was over, when 
he at the same rapid rate drew his load home again. 
Toward spring Napoleon disappeared and was not 
seen for months. 

It was understood that there was to be no racing 
on Sunday, yet somehow everybody seemed to want 
to go just about as fast as possible. The terrible 
cold may have had something to do with this. Alec 
was generally sent on first, or else requested to wait 
some time after the others had started, as his dogs 
had become possessed with the habit of catching up 
and going ahead of everything in sight. 

''Supposing, Alec,” said Mr. Morrison, a young 
clerk of the Company’s service, "that it were not 
Sunday, I should like to run ahead of your dogs and 
show you what traveling is.” 

"Supposing it were not Sunday, I should like to 
see you do it,” was Alec’s reply. 

"Supposing it were not Sunday, here goes,” was 
the saucy challenge of this young clerk, who thought 
he had the fleetest train in the whole district. 

"Supposing it is Sunday,” shouted Alec back to 
8 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

him, for they were both on the Sagasta-weekee 
route. “Til just go on and tell them you will be 
along after a while and dine with us.” 

It was considerably later when the clerk arrived. 
That afternoon, in conversation with Mr. Ross, he 
gravely stated that one of the temptations of that 
country was a disposition to travel rapidly, to and 
from church, on the Lord’s day. Frank and Sam, 
as well as Mr. Ross, had been promptly informed 
by Alec of the challenge and the race with this 
young gentleman, and so when Alec heard the re- 
mark just mentioned he gravely replied : 

“Well, Mr. Morrison, you need not have any 
qualms of conscience about your speed to-day. We 
started about the same time from the church, and 
it was a long time after I reached home ere you 
arrived.” 

This bit of sarcasm, so well put in, so tickled Sam 
that he fairly exploded, and with his handkerchief 
in his mouth he rushed out of the room. Soon after 
he was joined by Frank, and together they laughed 
until they were sore. The hypocrisy of the young 
fellow was so evident that they were delighted with 
Alec’s comforting remarks. 

Mr. Hurlburt, the missionary, generally came 
over and held an evening service at Mr. Ross’s 
house every second Sabbath. The alternate Sabbath 
'evening was spent in holding a similar service at 
the fort. These services were very delightful. The 
boys often drove over to the mission services in the 
afternoon with their trains and brought back with 
them Mr. and Mrs. Hurlburt, and when it could be 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

arranged — which was frequently done — the two 
sweet young daughters. 

To Frank, with his powerful train, was generally 
assigned the missionary, who was a large, portly 
man; to Alec, with his beautiful fleet train, was 
assigned the pleasure of bringing Mrs. Hurlburt, 
and at first Sam had the exquisite delight of tucking 
the robes of rich beaver around the fair young 
daughters from the mission home and carefully 
bringing them over to Sagasta-weekee. This pleas- 
ure was, however, soon taken from him. It was 
indeed a happy group that assembled around the 
hospitable tea table those delightful evenings. The 
boys used to plead so hard to be allowed to drive 
back with the loads that they generally succeeded in 
having their way, although Mr. Ross always took 
the precaution of sending an extra team of dogs 
under the guidance of an experienced Indian, This 
was necessary, as not only did vicious, mad wolves 
sometimes cross that route, but blizzard storms 
might suddenly come up, and then it would have 
gone hard with the boys with their young dogs to 
have kept the trail. 

Mr. Hurlburt generally rode home in the extra 
cariole driven by this Indian. This enabled Frank 
to take the elder of the young ladies, and we must 
confess that, although Frank was very fond of the 
missionary, he had not the slightest objection in 
changing him for the daughter. 

Frequently the missionary, with some faithful 
Indians, used to make long journeys with the dog- 
trains to distant places where no one had ever gone 
115 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

before with the Bible and its sweet story of God’s 
love to man. During his absence his pulpit would be 
supplied by native ministers, who, though not as yet 
ordained, were eloquent in their way, and were a 
blessing to their fellow-countrymen. Even the white 
people who understood the Indian language used to 
listen with great pleasure to some of these gifted 
sons of the forest as they preached from full hearts 
of the love of God as revealed in the gift of his Son. 
In after years some of these younger Indians were 
educated and ordained, and are now regularly set- 
tled as ministers among their own people. There 
were some of them, however, who aspired to be 
ministers who were not a success. Some were too 
ambitious. Some, not content with talking about 
what they knew themselves, must launch out into 
deep waters, and so speedily they came to grief. 
Constantly did the missionary have them under his 
eye, and many were the lessons he was giving them. 
Some would, in spite of his best efforts, get beyond 
him. For example, one ambitious would-be minister 
said in his address before quite a large audience : 

“Brothers, the missionary says the world is round. 
I don’t believe it. It is flat as the top of that stove.” 

As he said this he pointed to the top of the great 
flat iron stove in which a fire was burning, for it was 
in the depth of winter. Of course the missionary 
was informed of this daring brother’s unbelief, and 
a good lesson in geography had to be administered 
to him by means of the map of the two hemispheres 
hanging on the wall. He manfully acknowledged 
to the missionary his error, and promised to make it 

ii6 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

right with the audience the next time he stood up to 
address them. This he endeavored to do in the 
following manner : 

^'Brothers, I made a mistake when I last addressed 
you, when I said I did not believe that the world 
was round. It is round. I have seen it. It is like 
two moons flattened against the wall.” 

Of course this would never do, and so the mis- 
sionary had to take him in hand again and give him 
another lesson. This time he used his large ball-like 
globe, swung on its axis in. its frame, which was 
supported on three feet. Patiently the minister 
showed him how the world was like a great ball, 
round in every direction. Attentively the Indian 
listened, and carefully examined the globe and the 
frame in which it hung. 

^‘Yes,” he said to his teacher, “I was wrong.* I 
have it now. I will explain it to the people.” 

When the first opportunity offered he was as good 
as his word, and so he thus addressed them : 

^^Brothers, I seem to be hard to learn, but I have 
got it now. Yes, the world is round every way. It 
is not flat even one way. It is round. Yes, it is 
round, but then it stands upon three legs.” 

So another and even more thorough lesson was 
needed to knock those three legs away. 

As a general rule the Indians who were appointed 
to speak kept within their own depths, and very 
sensible and appropriate were their utterances. 

Christmas Day and New Year's Day were great 
times of feasting and gladness at the mission village 

among the Christian Indians. On Christmas Day 
117 


Winter Adventt^res of Three Boys 

all the men, women, and children, arrayed in their 
very best finery, called at the mission house, and 
were each treated to a large cup of strong, well- 
sweetened tea and a big bun. Then they went to the 
fur-trading post, and there received the gratuities of 
tobacco and other things. Many called at Sagasta- 
weekee, and were cordially received. The boys were 
very much interested in them, and took great pleas- 
ure in assisting Mrs. Ross, as on this day it is ex- 
pected that the white people only will pass the tea 
and cakes, and with their own hands also give their 
Christmas gifts to the poor and needy. In such a 
land there are many who require a great deal of just 
such help. After the matters of hospitality had been 
attended to there were many sports on the ice, and 
into these all who desired to enter were cordially 
welcomed. The boys were in their glory in these 
sports, and gallantly held their own against the 
lighter but more agile Indians. In the evening all 
the trains that could be mustered were harnessed 
up, and everybody who could get away went over 
to the mission church for the Christmas services, 
which, on account of the elaborate musical prepara- 
tions, were held in the evening this year. The mis- 
sionary, aided by his musical family, had been for 
weeks diligently employed in teaching the Indians 
to sing Christmas carols and other appropriate songs 
for this joyous occasion. The native choir acquitted 
themselves admirably, and everything passed off to 
the pleasure and delight of all. 

New Year’s Day is, however, the big day to the 
Indians, as it is on that day that the great annual 

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IN THE Great Lone Land 

feast is held in the church. This Christian festival 
has taken the place of the once heathen dog feast 
and other pagan ceremonials that the Indians held, 
with disgusting rites, before the missionaries came 
among them. 

New Year’s Day is called by the Indians Oo-che- 
me-ke-se-gou, which literally means ‘‘the kissing 
day.” On this day the men claim the right to kiss 
every woman they meet, and, strange to say, every 
woman expects to be kissed, and is quite offended if 
she is passed by without being saluted in this way, 
which is so much more ancient and historic than the 
meaningless modern one of shaking hands. This 
Indian definition of New Year’s Day vastly amused 
the boys, and when in the morning Mrs. Ross and 
Wenonah came in they, of course, had to be saluted 
in the orthodox fashion. This was very agreeable, 
but when the Indian cook came into the dining room, 
in answer to Mrs. Ross’s ringing, Wenonah shouted 
out to the boys : 

“This is Oo-che-me-ke-se-gou, and you must all 
kiss Nahkoomah, the cook.” 

Nahkoomah was not at all handsome, but she 
knew what day it was and claimed her rights, and 
so when the boys made a rush to get out she blocked 
the way in that direction, while Wenonah bravely 
cut off the retreat by the other door. Seeing them- 
selves thus captured, they gracefully accepted the 
inevitable. A resounding smack was given her first 
by Sam, which was gingerly imitated by Frank and 
Alec. The boys afterward said that it paid grandly 
to give the cook the national kiss, as from that day 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

forward she was ever pleased to prepare them the 
best dishes she could. 

‘T say, Frank and Alec,” mischievously exclaimed 
Wenonah, “don’t you know they keep Oo-che-me- 
ke-se-gou over at the mission ?” 

This sally very much amused all, and of course 
gave Sam a chance to remark that it was an elegant 
day for a sleigh ride; that he thought Frank and 
Alec’s dogs needed some exercise; that the road to 
the mission was in capital condition, and perhaps 
they had better be off, and the sooner the better, for 
fear the young ladies should wear the glass of the 
windows thin, looking for their coming. Mrs. Ross 
here interposed, and stopped Sam’s voluble utter- 
ances by saying that they were all going over a little 
after noon, in response to a very cordial invitation 
from Mr. and Mrs. Hurlburt, to witness the Indian 
feast and dine with them in the church. This was 
great news to all, and as there were only a couple of 
hours for preparation there was hurrying in every 
direction. 

“Put on your best bibs and tuckers, my hearties,” 
said Sam to Frank and Alec, “for this day is the 
event of your lives. Rig yourselves up so gallantly 
and finely that the sweet, blushing lassies over be- 
yond will be so struck with your noble presences that 
they will, for the day at least, imagine themselves 
Indian maidens enough to at least comply with the 
customs of the day.” But ere Sam had finished his 
long harangue, the blushing Frank and Alec were 
hunting up their best apparel and selecting the 

warmest robes for their dog-sleds. 

120 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

While all are getting ready at Sagasta-weekee let 
us take a look at the feast, or rather first at the 
preparations necessary in such a land to feed ten or 
twelve hundred hungry Indians. About two months 
before the time a great council is held. The mis- 
sionary is invariably asked to be the chairman, and 
a clever writer of the Indian syllabics is appointed 
secretary. Then, as a matter of form, it is moved 
by the chief and seconded by some other Indian of 
influence, “That we have the usual feast on Oo-che- 
me-ke-se-gou day.” This is, of course, carried amid 
Indian applause. Then the question next asked is: 
“How much will each supply to make it a grand 
success?” Thus there is started a spirit of emula- 
tion that would astonish some white folks. 

Big Tom says : “I saw the tracks of a moose. I 
will give half of him, when I shoot him,” he adds, 
while the quiet laugh goes round. 

Mustagan says : “I saw the steam curl up from a 
bear’s den. I will give the largest bear, when I get 
him.” 

Soquatum says : “I have just heard of the coming 
of the reindeer. I will give one.” 

Thus it goes on as rapidly as the secretary can 
write their names and promises. Those hunters 
famous for killing the game that is good for food 
promise, as these already referred to have done, all 
kinds of animals, from a moose to wild cats and 
beavers. Those hunters whose skill is in killing the 
rich fur-bearing animals promise to exchange por- 
tions of the valuable products of their huntings for 
flour, tea, sugar, and raisins at the trading posts. 

I2I 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

Everybody was expected to promise something, and 
then he was to do his best to get it. 

This method of getting up a feast was a unique 
one. The idea of subscribing bears that were in 
their dens a hundred miles away, or moose, or rein- 
deer, or other wild animals that were roaming in the 
forests or on the barren plains many scores of miles 
distant, was, to say the least, very different from 
civilized methods. When the council breaks up 
every man is interested in securing what he has 
promised, or something better. It often happens 
that the man who has promised a couple of wild cats 
succeeds in finding a good, full beaver house. A 
couple of these are worth more than the cats. The 
man who promised a reindeer may be lucky enough 
to kill a moose, and thus it is. However, they all try 
to do the very best they can. As these various sup- 
plies are brought in they are stowed away in the 
large fish house of the missionary, where they speed- 
ily freeze solid, and are thus kept sweet and good 
until required for use. About four days before the 
feast the wife of the missionary calls to her help a 
number of clever, industrious Indian women, and 
from morning until night the cooking goes on. 
Early in the morning of the feast day the seats are 
all removed from the church, and long tables are im- 
provised that stretch from nearly end to end of the 
building. One long table is prepared at the upper 
end of the church for all the whites, who are spe- 
cially invited by letter to attend. As they have all 
contributed largely to the feast, of course, they are 
welcomed. 


.122 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

It is an interesting sight to see that happy, ex- 
pectant throng. Everybody, Christian and pagan, 
is welcome. No questions are asked. See the piles 
of provisions. Surely there is enough and to spare. 
Well, they will need a great quantity, for Indians 
have great appetites, and then there are many sick 
and feeble who could not come to-day, and they must 
be remembered. There are over a thousand out to- 
day, and while some scores are busy preparing the 
feast the others skate, play football, toboggan, and 
in other ways amuse themselves. Of course the in- 
mates of the mission house are busy. To the mis- 
sionary and his wife the Indians all look for direc- 
tion and guidance. This is necessary, that every- 
thing may go off without friction. In addition, they 
have to be on hand to receive such white people as 
may come from the various trading posts and other 
places. 

See, here they come from Sagasta-weekee ! Alec 
is at the head of the company. His fleet dogs are 
never happy now except when first in every crowd. 
Cozily wrapped up in fur robes in his cariole are 
Wenonah and Roderick. Sam has brought over 
Mr. Ross, and to Frank has been intrusted Mrs. 
Ross. The boys are now skillful drivers, and so no 
mishap has occurred. Cordially are they welcomed, 
and as it is Oo-che-me-ke-se-gou the ladies are gal- 
lantly kissed by the gentlemen. With loving ten- 
derness Mrs. Hurlburt kissed the three boys, and 
said she would do so in place of their precious 
mothers, who would doubtless think of them on that 

glad day. Then she turned them over to her young 
123 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

folks, while she hurried off to meet the later arrivals 
from the Hudson Bay Company’s fort. 

Sam was first escorted in by Wenonah, who, as 
she met the young ladies of the mission, exclaimed : 

‘‘Now this is Oo-che-me-ke-se-gou, and we are all 
of that way to-day.” 

Bravely did the blushing Sam pass through the 
ordeal, and then Alec and Frank, in a way that 
seemed to come quite natural to them, saluted in a 
good old-fashioned way the two fair ladies who had 
come into their young lives and were much in their 
minds. 

“Sure,” said Sam, “that’s not bad medicine to 
take, at all, at all.” 

At this there was a great laugh, for Sam had 
blushed and stammered and acted as though it were 
an ordeal of great solemnity. There was a lot of 
fun and pleasantry for the next hour or so among 
these happy young people, while the older ones were 
busy looking after matters pertaining to the feast. 
Frank and Alec entertained the young ladies’ friends 
with the latest news that had come in by the Christ- 
mas packet. Sam, with Wenonah and Roderick, 
played all sorts of pranks all over the house. When 
later arrivals came in and gravely kissed, not only 
the elderly ladies of the party, but also the beautiful 
young maidens, Alec and Frank’s faces were studies 
that very much amused Sam. 

“Indeed,” he afterward said, “I thought it was 
going to be pistols and coffee for four, and may I 
be there to see the fun.” 

As the tender passion had not yet struck him, he 
124 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

could thus afford to be amused at the ebullitions of 
jealousy that rolled so ominously into the young 
hearts of the chums. ‘'Black as thunderclouds were 
their faces,” he said, “as they saw these sweet young 
ladies, whom they in their callow affections would 
already wholly monopolize, kissed by a dozen differ- 
ent gentlemen during the day.” 

“How do you like ‘0-jimmy-catch-the-cow’ day, 
or whatever you call it?” he said to Frank, as he saw 
him glowering at a Hudson Bay officer who had 
just kissed his sweetheart. 

“I don’t like it at all,” Frank replied, with gritted 
teeth. 

“You mean you don’t like it for other folks,” 
replied Sam. “You took your medicine yourself 
very well, if I am a good judge, especially when you 
so lovingly displayed your osculatory skill on the 
sweet lips of peerless Rachel, whom that young prig 
of a Hudson Bay Company’s clerk is now approach- 
ing.” 

“Fll fight him,” said Frank, and his hot breath 
and clinched fists showed that he would have loved 
to pitch in just then. 

“No, you will not,” said Sam. “Hot-headed 
Englishman though you are, you are too much of a 
gentleman to make a row in this clergyman’s house, 
and about his young daughter. But, Frank, I will 
give you a bit of comfort. While the beautiful 
Rachel gave you her sweet lips to kiss, she only 
turned her rosy cheek to all the other fellows, me 
included. So now no more of your English, ‘Fll 
punch your ’ead for you.’ ” 

125 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

Here Sam’s advice, helpful and needed as it was, 
abruptly ended, as everybody was summoned into 
the church to the great feast. Frank was happy 
once again, as he was selected to take in his sweet 
Rachel, while Alec had her younger sister, Winnie, 
as his partner. Much to his delight, Sam came in 
with Wenonah and Roderick. Indeed, they were 
almost one and inseparable on such occasions. 

Of the great feast and how it was enjoyed by all 
we have written in other volumes. Suffice to say 
that there was abundance for all. In addition, great 
bundles of food, with packages of tea and sugar, 
were sent to every sick or aged or feeble person, with 
loving good wishes of all. The feast was pro- 
nounced a great success. At the evening meeting, 
where, as in former years, the Indians gathered, 
with the chief in the chair, and where many speeches 
were delivered by the eloquent ones of the village, 
it was observed that among the happy things said 
there were words of gratitude to their kind, loving 
missionary and his family, and to the other white 
friends, in every address. 

It was also noticed that many of the Christian 
Indians, rising higher in their thoughts, saw in all 
these blessings that had come to them the good hand 
of the Great Spirit, their heavenly Father, and so to 
him their grateful prayers ascended, and the most 
frequent word uttered was “nanaskoomowin” — 
“thanksgiving.” 


126 





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II 



Norway House, the Hudson Bay Company's Trading Posh 


IN THE Great Lone Land 


CHAPTER IX. 

The Indian School Examinations — The Prizes — Noble In- 
dian Boys — The Skates to Kepastick — The Various Sports — 
Foot Races — The Skating Race — Tricky Clerk Outwitted — 
Frank and Kepastick Tie as Winners — Football — Hockey. 

The day for the examinations and sports at the 
mission school arrived in due time. Fortunately, 
it was a very beautiful day, although it was many 
degrees below zero. But nobody now minded that. 
There were no fogs, or mists, or damps, and the dry, 
steady cold is always much more healthy and in- 
vigorating than changeable weather in any land. 
Everybody invited was present, and so the day’s 
full program was well carried out. 

Mr. McTavish, a chief factor in the Hudson Bay 
Company’s service and the chief officer at the Nor- 
way House trading post, presided at the school ex- 
aminations, which began promptly at nine o’clock. 
The schoolhouse was packed with the children and 
their friends, except the large platform at the upper 
end of the schoolroom, on which were seated the 
white visitors from Sagasta-weekee and the trading 
posts and mission. 

The children were first examined in their reading 
lessons in both languages, Cree and English. In 
their own language they used the syllabic characters, 
invented and perfected by the Rev. James Evans, the 
founder of this mission. These syllabics, as their 
name indicates, each represent a syllable. The re- 
sult is there is no spelling, and just as soon as a 
127 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

pupil, young or old, has once mastered these char- 
acters he begins to read. Three weeks or a month 
is considered quite sufficient time in which to teach 
a person of ordinary intelligence to read fluently. 

Mr. Evans was several years in perfecting this 
invention. He begged from the traders the sheet 
lead that is found around the tea in tea chests. 
Then, making little bars of this lead, he carved out 
his first type. His first paper was made out of birch 
bark. His first press he made himself. His first ink 
was made out of soot mixed with sturgeon oil. 
Many were his difficulties and discouragements, but 
he triumphed over them all, and now here were hun- 
dreds of Indians reading in their own language the 
word of God. 

The whole Bible, with some hundreds of hymns 
and a few volumes of good books. Pilgrim's Prog- 
ress, The Path of Life, and others, have been trans- 
lated and printed in these syllabic characters. The 
old Indians prize them very much, but it is interest- 
ing to note that, just as soon as the younger Indians 
understand English and get to be able to read in it, 
they prefer it to their own language and books. 

The examinations in arithmetic, grammar, and 
geography were rather limited. It could not have 
been otherwise in such a place. All were, however, 
delighted with the splendid examination each class 
passed through in Bible history. The Indians have 
wonderful memories, and here the children delighted 
all with their knowledge of events from the crea- 
tion down, and the accuracy with which they could 

quote long portions of the sacred book. The writing 
128 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

also won a great many complimentary remarks from 
all, and it is safe to assert that very few schools 
among white people could have made a better show- 
ing. The recitations were good, considering that 
they were uttered in a foreign tongue. The singing 
was delightful. The children sang in the two lan- 
guages, and the soft, sweet, liquid Cree did not suf- 
fer in pathos and beauty in comparison with the 
more vigorous English. Of course, a number of 
prizes were given. A beautiful incident occurred 
when the prizes for the best recitations of the four- 
teenth chapter of St. John’s gospel were being dis- 
tributed. Among the competitors was a poor lad 
who when a babe had been so bitten in the hand and 
arm by a wolf that the arm had to be cut off near 
the body. Competing with him were several other 
bright boys. The chief prize was a splendid pair 
of new skates, which Frank had generously given 
for this competition. So even had been the boys, or 
rather so perfect were they in reciting, that the 
judges hesitated about selecting the winner of the 
first prize. When the boys who were well and 
unmaimed observed this there was a short, quiet con- 
sultation between them, and then one rose up and, 
respectfully addressing Mr. McTavish, said that the 
boys who had two hands, as well as two feet, had 
more ways of having sport and fun than Kepastick, 
who had only one hand, and so they asked him to 
have the judges decide that Kepastick should have 
the skates. Noble fellows! but that is just like 
young Christian Indian boys. The white people 
present were much moved by this beautiful incident 
9 129 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

of quiet unselfishness, and soon arranged that those 
kind-hearted lads should not go unrewarded. 

By twelve o’clock the most successful examination 
of the school, up to that time, was over. The prizes 
were distributed, and while all the white people, as 
was customary, accepted the missionary’s invitation 
and dined at the parsonage, the Indians sped away 
home for a brief dinner, and were then soon all back 
again, to compete in or to witness the sports. 

The first races were run by some little girls. The 
distance was only a few hundred yards and back. 
These races caused a lot of fun and enjoyment. The 
prizes were little handkerchiefs, strings of beads, and 
other trifling things in which little Indian girls re- 
joice, and of course every little competitor must have 
a prize. Then there were races for little boys. It 
was great fun to see the sturdy little fellows so gal- 
lantly strive for victory. Meanwhile arrangements 
were being made for the more important races of 
the day. The courses had been marked out pre- 
viously with flags, and so every class knew its 
course and ran accordingly. The fleetness and en- 
durance of some of even the small boys were won- 
derful, and great was the interest, and even intense 
at times the excitement, when several well-matched 
competitors gamely struggled on for victory. In 
the races open to all comers the larger Indian boys 
were disappointed that none of the whites had en- 
tered, as they were anxious to test their own speed 
against them. There were races worth going across 
a continent to witness, and genuine and hearty was 
the applause that greeted the winners, who came in 
130 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

at such a rate that the white boys, while cheering 
as heartily as the others, saw how wise they had 
been in declining to put themselves against such 
runners as White Antelope or Spotted Deer, the 
winners. 

When the skating matches were called Frank 
promptly entered the lists. His appearance was re- 
ceived with applause. Even the quiet Indian lads 
tried to make a noise to show their pleasure in greet- 
ing the handsome, manly fellow whose splendid gift 
had gone to Kepastick, the one-armed lad. Two or 
three young clerks or fur traders also entered for 
the race, one of them being the young man who had 
so abruptly left Alec the night of his fearful race 
with the wolves. The route marked out for the 
skaters covered in all about ten or twelve miles. It, 
however, so twisted in and out among the islands 
on the frozen lake, that many of the competitors 
would be in sight nearly all of the time. That the 
intending skaters might thoroughly understand the 
route, it had been marked out a week or ten days 
before the race, and it had been thoroughly under- 
stood that any of the competitors were at perfect 
liberty to skate over the grounds and get familiar 
with the different turning places, marked by little 
red flags. 

Frank, with Alec as a companion and trainer, ac- 
companied by one of Mr. Ross's servants, who was 
also a splendid skater, had gone over the route two 
or three times, and so was quite familiar with it. A 
little before the race began he was quite surprised 
to have this Indian skater call him aside and tell him 
I3I 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

to be careful and keep his eye on the correct route, 
and also to guard himself against that young white 
man who had deserted Alec. He then added : 

“Watch the Indian with one arm; his heart is 
good toward you.’' 

Then, putting his fingers to his lips as a sign of 
caution, the Indian quickly slipped away among 
the crowd. This very much perplexed and bothered 
Frank, especially when Mr. Ross said to him: 

“Keep your eyes on the lookout for the flags — the 
Indian lads are so familiar with the route that they 
will not bother to notice them; and look out for 
tricks from those whose faces, like your own, are 
white.” 

There were perhaps twenty competitors in the 
great race. As the distance was so long it was not 
very essential that they should get off at the same 
instant. There would doubtless be those who de- 
pended on rapid bursts of speed to carry them to the 
front, and so a second or two made but little differ- 
ence at first. At the report of a gun away they flew. 
They had all sorts of skates and all kinds of styles. 
With ten or twelve miles’ work before them, none, 
except some of the younger lads, tried to do their 
very best at first. Frank naturally wished to skate in 
company with his white companions, but they sul- 
lenly refused the offered society. Insulted and an- 
noyed at this conduct, and remembering the warning 
words of Mr. Ross and also of his faithful servant, 
he just made up his mind to be on the alert, and if 
it were possible he would be in the first of the pale- 
faces. On and on they sped, until a couple of miles 
132 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

at least were covered. Then they had reached a spot 
where the route lay between two rocky islands not 
a hundred feet apart. The ice here was beautifully 
smooth, and being well sheltered was as clear as 
glass. With a wild whoop the Indians dashed on 
across it, and at the same time, rather to Frank’s 
surprise, one of the clerks, putting on a rapid burst 
of speed, dashed directly in front of him, in the cen- 
ter of this narrow place. Frank, with his suspicions 
all aroused, keenly watched him, and to his astonish- 
ment saw him deliberately but cautiously let slowly 
trickle from his hands fine streams of the white 
crystal quartz sand of that country. To have 
skated over it would have so dulled his keen-edged 
skates that anything like victory wjDuld have been 
impossible. There are times when the mind works 
rapidly, and so it did here with Frank. The first 
thought was to shout out and expose the villainy. 
The next was to evade the trap and for the present 
say nothing about it, and see what trick would next 
be tried. So, quickly veering to the windward side 
sufficiently to make it sure that he would escape the 
sand, he rapidly sped along, humiliated and indig- 
nant that a white man would try a trick that an 
Indian would scorn to do. 

On and on they flew. The route turned and 
twisted, and in several of the windings it brought 
them in fair view of the excited group on the mis- 
sion hill who watched their progress, for now more 
than one half of the route was covered. They were 
now entering a kind of a maze among the islands, 
where persons not thoroughly acquainted with the 
133 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

route required to keep a vigilant eye on the different 
flags. In the front group was Frank, and closely 
edging beside him, he noticed with pleasure, was 
Kepastick, the one-armed lad, with his beautiful new 
skates, now serving him grandly and well. 

“Chist!” said the Indian lad quickly, and Frank 
knew by the way that this word, which means 
“look,’’ was uttered that there was something meant. 
Letting the boy glide just ahead of him, Frank 
caught the meaning of his words, though uttered in 
broken English: 

“Some bad hearts change flags to bother Frank. 
Frank keep near Kepastick. He knows the trail.” 

These friendly words were uttered none too soon, 
for Frank saw at once that even some of the Indians, 
trusting to the flags, were perplexed and some had 
gone hopelessly astray. With a rush and a jeer of 
triumph a white clerk made an attempt to fly by, for 
once out of that labyrinth of crooked icy channels 
the home stretch was as straight as an arrow. Frank 
was for responding to his spurt with an effort 
equally desperate, when Kepastick checked him 
with : 

“One Indian, good heart, meet clerk’s bad heart; 
all right yet.” 

Frank, now completely bewildered, yielded him- 
self implicitly to the guidance of Kepastick, who 
moved on with all confidence and paid not the slight- 
est attention to the flags. 

Look ! Away beyond the islands, in the distance, 
shining in the sunlight, is the steeple of the mission 
church. Just a few more windings in these tortuous 
134 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

channels, and then the two miles’ dash for home. 
Most of the Indians — for their skates were poor — 
have fallen in the rear. The one white man whom 
Frank despises is perhaps a hundred yards ahead, 
and not far behind him are his companions. With 
intense interest Kepastick is watching them. 

“Chist!” he cries again, and his dark eyes flashed 
with excitement ; '‘the trail is ours !” 

It seems that there ran out from that place two 
channels that looked very much alike. The correct 
one had been flagged several days before, but the 
previous evening the clerk had skated over and had 
flagged the wrong channel. Sharp eyes had been 
on him and had discovered his trick, and these mis- 
placed flags had been replaced at their proper posi- 
tions, while the others had been left as the villain 
had placed them. Thus thrown off his guard, he 
blindly dashed into the wrong channel. The rocky 
shores were high and abrupt, and so Kepastick and 
Frank shot by the trap and into the correct channel, 
and were hundreds of yards out on the now open 
lake, with their faces toward home, ere the plotters 
discovered, to their dismay, how they had been com- 
pletely foiled. As rapidly as possible they turned, 
but the distance could not be made up, and so to 
their chagrin they not only found that Frank and 
Kepastick had tied first, but that six or seven In- 
dians, some with home-made skates, had wholly 
beaten them. 

As the miserable trickster passed Frank on the 
shore some time after, in the presence of the chief 
factor, Mr. Ross, and several others, Frank sternly 
135 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

looked at him and uttered the one word ‘‘Sand!” 
None but the two then knew what was meant, but 
the guilty rascal paled, and so trembled that it 
seemed as though he would fall to the ground. Very 
soon was he out of that company. Next day he 
asked to be transferred to another post, which re- 
quest was cheerfully granted. It was a long time 
before Frank told of his contemptible conduct. 
When Mr. Ross at length heard of it he communi- 
cated at once with the head officers of the Hudson 
Bay Company in reference to conduct so dishonor- 
able, and the result was that the poor fellow, who 
had not improved over such actions in other places, 
was ignominously expelled from the service. 

Meanwhile the other sports were progressing 
finely. The football teams crowned themselves with 
many honors. The games were not fought on any 
strict Rugby rules. The goals were set in the ice, 
about four or five times as distant from each other 
as is the case in civilization. Then two captains were 
named, and they selected their men and boys alter- 
nately, until all who wished to play were chosen. 
Then each side was lined up at their own goal. The 
ball was placed away out in the center between them. 
At the firing of a gun there was a wild rush, and the 
side that had the fleetest runners thus secured the 
first kick. The ball was not to be thrown or carried. 
It was to be kicked, and could be struck with the 
hand or head. The game was fast and furious while 
it lasted. It was always in ground, and there was no 
hold up until it went between the poles of one or the 
other side. The cries of “Foul” were never heard, 
136 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

and umpires were only needed at the poles to shout 
out when a goal was won. It was a jolly, lively, 
easily understood game of football, enjoyed by all. 
Generally five wins in nine plays was the rule. 

The hockey games were like those played by men 
and boys in civilized lands, only here everybody who 
wished to play was paired with somebody else, so 
as to keep the sides even. Everybody not otherwise 
engaged enthusiastically took a hand in it, and the 
fun was very great. Mr. Hurlburt, Mr. Ross, Hud- 
son Bay officers, as well as all down to the smallest 
Indian lad who could handle a crooked stick, had 
a share in this game. The day was so cold, and 
the smooth ice expanse so great, that the vigorous 
exercise did everybody good. 

The tobogganing games were given over entirely 
to the girls to compete in, and skillfully and well 
did they acquit themselves. The other minor games 
also gave great satisfaction, and afforded any 
amount of amusement. 

We reserve for the next chapter the story of the 
great race of the rival dog-trains, which for long 
years after was talked about in many a wigwam and 
at many a camp fire. 


137 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 


CHAPTER X. 

The Great Race with the Dog-trains — Careful Preparations 
by Alec — The Different Breathing Places — The Treacherous 
Half-breeds — Their Signal Failure — Alec’s Triumph. 

And now for the races with the dogs. These 
were looked forward to with the greatest interest. 
All sorts of rumors were afloat of some wonderful 
surprises in store. Fortunately for all parties con- 
cerned, including the dogs, there had been a great 
abundance of fish during the last few years, and so 
every Indian wigwam and house fairly swarmed 
with dogs, of all sizes and degree. In other years, 
when fish failed and the herd of reindeer came not, 
as a last resort against starvation the dogs went into 
the soup pot. But they had fared better lately, and 
so now they were all in the finest trim, and the 
trained ones were as eager here for the races as were 
their masters. 

There were about a dozen trains that contended 
for the victory in this next race. There were to be 
four prizes given. Alec, with his splendid houndlike 
dogs, seemed a certain victor. However, as from 
different parts the dogs came into position and were 
eagerly scanned by those present, it was seen that 
there were many trains that would make a gallant 
race ere they or their magnificently developed 
drivers would even take a second place. Alec and 
a young clerk were the only whites in the race. 
Then there were three half-breed fur traders, and 

the rest of the competitors were pure Indians. 

138 



Alec; Victor in the Dog Race 





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IN THE Great Lone Land 

The Indian carpenter at Sagasta-weekee had 
made for Alec a splendid birch tobogganlike sled 
for this race. It was very light, and so the maker 
had sewed and resewed it, and so stiffened it with 
the sinews of the reindeer that it was as strong as a 
piece of steel. He had fastened a seat in it so 
cleverly that if the sled went over the seat collapsed 
like a rubber ball and as quickly resumed its position 
when the sled was righted. Old Memotas had 
especially manufactured the harnesses for this event. 
He made them out of the softest and lightest moose- 
skin that Mr. Ross could buy for him. It took 
Memotas a long time to get the right kind of traces 
to satisfy his experienced eye. After testing a good 
deal of leather he settled down on a set of very long 
ones, that would not at all interfere with the long, 
springy movements of these beautiful houndlike 
dogs. 

The start was to be from the foot of the mission 
hill on the ice. The route marked out, and along 
which Indians had now been stationed, was first to 
be the trading post, a distance of two and a half 
miles. Here each train would be detained exactly 
five minutes. At the expiration of the five minutes 
the next part of the race would begin. This was to 
Sagasta-weekee, a distance of perhaps five miles. 
Here there was to be a compulsory wait of ten min- 
utes for each train, and then the dash back by the 
straight route to the mission, a distance, say, of six 
mile§. Some of the Indians wanted the distance to 
be at least doubled, but this could not be allowed. 
These races and prizes were only designed to en- 
139 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

courage the Indians to be kind and careful with their 
dogs, as only by such treatment could they be 
brought to be of the highest use to them in that 
land where they are so much needed. 

Amid a good deal of barking, and some growls 
from some of the more quarrelsome dogs, the cry of 
^‘Marche!” was shouted, and they were off. Some 
especially clever Indian trains were the first to re- 
spond to the call and sprang to the front. Some 
of the drivers were going to run; others, like Alec, 
intended to ride, while perhaps the greater number 
would ride or run as they judged best in the excite- 
ment of the race. Each driver, Alec included, had 
a splendid dog-whip, but it was a long time since a 
dog of Alec’s was struck. Indeed, the first one to 
receive a powerful blow was the leader dog of a 
train beside which Alec was running. As Bruce 
came alongside, and was slowly forging ahead, the 
vicious brute made a spring at him. Quick as it 
was, it was observed by his Indian master, who, 
although more than twelve feet from him in the 
rear, sent out so speedily and accurately that long, 
heavy, snakelike whiplash that it caught the brute 
on the nose with such force that, with a howl of pain, 
he turned to the front before any damage had been 
done. A few seconds later Alec and this Indian 
driver sped on right and left of a couple of trains 
mixed up in terrible confusion, while their drivers, 
a white man and a half-breed, were in anything but 
a pleasant mood. On and on they fairly flew. Alec 
had been warned to guard against running into some 

of the vicious dog-trains, as some of them had teeth 
140 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

like wolves, and one fierce attack might easily dis- 
able one of his lighter dogs. 

Without mishap Alec reached the fort, and found 
that five trains were there ahead of him. In a min- 
ute or two most of the others arrived. Even those 
tangled up had speedily unloosened, and had not lost 
more than a couple of minutes by their collision. 
Exactly as each train’s five minutes expired, away 
they flew for a long run for Sagasta-weekee. The 
ice was in fairly good condition for traveling, al- 
though there were long stretches where it was so 
absolutely smooth and glassy that some of the dogs 
would slip and slide in spite of their best efforts to 
the contrary. On this smooth ice the Eskimos and 
the mongrels had the advantage, as they had such 
hard feet that they very seldom slipped. The feet 
of Alec’s dogs were perhaps the worse for these 
smooth icy places, and so he found that it was neces- 
sary, where the traveling was good, for him to urge 
his dogs more than he had intended, to make up for 
what he lost in the glassy places. Thus on they 
sped, and when Sagasta-weekee was reached Alec 
found three trains ahead of him and a couple along- 
side of his own and others close behind him. Ten 
minutes was the time allotted for the rest here. The 
instant Alec had arrived Memotas was at his side, 
and with him at once examined his dogs and com- 
pared his train with those that had thus far kept 
ahead. Memotas was delighted with the inspection, 
for, while the other trains seemed about exhausted 
at the terrific rate their drivers had pushed them, 
Alec’s were as playful and lively as though the race 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

had only begun. So, barring accident or foul play, 
there seemed to be no reason why Alec should not 
win with flying colors. Two of the half-breeds with 
very vicious trains now pushed on with four minutes 
of a start. An Indian followed two minutes after, 
and then in four minutes more Alec and those who 
had arrived at the same time as he did were again 
ready for the final run of the six-mile home stretch. 
Just as Alec was leaving faithful, alert Memotas 
said to him, as he tucked him in : 

“Be on your guard against those two half-breeds 
and their vicious dogs. Try and not pass them in a 
narrow place. There is mischief in their hearts. 
Be wise.’' 

“Marche!” and he was off. 

For the first time now his blood began to tingle, 
and he entered into the wild, joyous enthusiasm of 
the race. He had become an expert in the use of his 
whip over the backs of his splendid dogs. Skillfully 
he whirled it, and its pistollike report rang out over 
them, but not once did it inflict a stinging blow. 

“Ho! ho! my gallants! With Scotland’s best 
staghound’s blood in your veins, and Scotland’s 
names, my bonny dogs, for Scotland win the day !” 

He must needs hurry now, for fleet trains are 
around him and some ahead of him, with drivers 
just as keen and eager to win as he, and every one 
of them accustomed to dog-driving for years. Vic- 
tors are some of them in previous contests, and not 
one of them is disposed to see a white lad from 
across the sea come and wrest their honor from 

them. Whips are flying now in earnest, and the 
142 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

dogs of other trains are waking up to realize that 
there is fire in their masters’ eyes and strength in 
their arms and a burning sting at the end of the 
heavy lash. With terrific rushes they make their 
desperate efforts to forge to the front. Alec, excited 
now to the highest pitch, calls as never before to his 
dogs : 

“Marche! Bruce, up! Up, Wallace! and you 
Gelert, and my bonny Lome. Ho! ho! Away, 
away, my bonny dogs! Away! away!” 

Grandly did they respond. They too have caught 
the enthusiasm of the hour, and as in clocklike 
unison in those long, light traces they stretched 
themselves out and fairly flew over the icy surface, 
they seemed to lift the light sled and its driver as a 
thing of naught. 

Steady, Alec! Keep well balanced now. You 
have shaken off every sled that started in this last 
dash with you, but there are stubborn competitors 
ahead, and there are rough places where an upset at 
such a speed means disaster as well as defeat. But 
he thinks naught of these things; his Scottish cau- 
tion has gone to the winds, and with dauntless cour- 
age he keeps up his cheering cries. Rapidly does he 
gain on a powerful train ahead of him, and just as 
he begins to fly past it the vicious leader turns and 
springs at Bruce. He fails in his attempt on account 
of the slippery ice, and falls directly in front of the 
oncoming train. 

“Marche ! Bruce !” shouts Alec, and with a mighty 
bound the gallant fellow responds and springs di- 
rectly over his prostrate assailant. Quickly follow 
143 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

Wallace, Gelert, and Lome. With a stunning blow 
Alec’s sled hits the still struggling brute. Well now 
is it for Alec that the cautious builder of that light 
sled had strengthened it with deerskin sinews till it 
was tough and strong. And so it stood that fierce 
shock, and, with its sturdy occupant unseated, over 
the great dog, with undiminished speed, it goes. 
Before him now are the two great trains of the half- 
breeds. These are the men and trains about which 
Memotas whispered his words of caution. And 
well is it for Alec that he was put on his guard. 
Before them for a mile or so is the narrowest part of 
the route. The good ice in places did not average 
more than from fifty to a hundred feet across. 
Plenty of room anyone might say for three dog- 
trains to rush by in at the same time. Yes, if all 
are fair and honorable, but not wide enough for the 
safety of the third if the other two are determined 
to stop him at all hazards. 

If there was one thing more than another in 
which Alec had carefully trained his dogs it was 
for them to respond to his voice, and quickly move 
to the right or left, as he spoke to them. Like some 
other drivers, he had them so well trained that no 
horse responds to the pull on the reins more prompt- 
ly than did his dogs to his voice. As Alec rapidly 
gained on these trains he observed that they were 
running about parallel to each other, and that the 
width of the ice was about the same between them 
and each shore. This so equally divided the ice that 
it made it difficult to decide whether to try and pass 
between them, or on one side or the other. Alec’s 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

first wish was to see if they were really working 
together against him, and so he shouted to his dogs 
as though he would dash in between them. At once 
they began to close up from each side to block his 
way. Quickly checking his dogs before there was a 
collision, he then tried the call to the right hand, 
and here the same plan was again pursued. It was 
evident, seeing that they would both be beaten in 
a fair race, they were resolved, by sacrificing one 
train, that the other should win at any cost from 
this white lad. Their dogs were large and fierce, 
and at one word from their master, if a collision 
occurred, would fasten on the lighter and younger 
dogs of Alec, with disastrous results. So Alec, 
who saw the plan, resolved that there should be 
no collision with his train if he could help it. All 
this time the speed was fairly kept up, and alert and 
watchful was each driver, although not a word was 
spoken among them. After a little more maneuver- 
ing from side to side Alec observed that his dogs 
were quicker to respond to his voice than were 
theirs, and so he resolved to try and confuse them 
and throw them off their guard. In this he at length 
succeeded. When, with a great show, it appeared 
that he was going to dash between them he suddenly 
checked his dogs just as the other two trains closed 
in to block his way. Quickly they saw their danger, 
and tried to avert it, but they were too late. Their 
own fierce, excited dogs sprang at each other as they 
met, and ere their masters could separate them Alec 
had skillfully veered to the right and was by them. 
The coast was clear now, but fleet trains were close 
lo 145 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

behind. The blocking of the way had necessarily 
somewhat lessened the speed, and swift trains had 
come up dangerously near. But what now cared 
Alec? Springing to his feet, he swings his whip and 
calls to his gallant dogs. The distance is now only 
a couple of miles, and direct is the route. How those 
beautiful dogs do go ! In perfect unison they spring 
together, while Alec’s cheering voice rings out : 

‘‘JMarche! Bruce, my hero, my leader! and you, 
Wallace, true to the end, and Gelert the avenger, 
and Lome the fortunate ! Gallant Scots ye are, and 
this is our Bannockburn I” 

Thus on he drives; and now before him in the 
distance is the expectant crowd, who, having fin- 
ished all their other sports, have gathered on the 
sloping banks to watch the return of the dog-trains. 
The day is drawing to a close, but there is one of 
those marvelous gloamings of the Great Lone Land, 
and so the whole scene is as visible as at noonday. 
The speed at which Alec travels soon brings him 
near, and as the sharp eyes of many tell them that 
he is the victor, and far in advance of any other 
train, there is, for an Indian crowd, a great deal of 
cheering, or rather a shouting of what sounds like 
^‘Hi! Hi! Ho! Ho!” from many a dusky Indian’s 
lungs. For Alec is very popular among them, and 
they rejoice at his victory. The few whites are also 
very much interested, and add their full share to the 
noise and excitement that tell of Alec’s triumph. 
Of course, Frank and Sam were wild with delight — 
so much so that they could not even shout. Sam in 

describing their feelings afterward said : 

146 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

“W e could only yell, but that we did in right good 
earnest.” 

As Alec dashed into the midst of the cheering 
crowd warm indeed was his welcome. Stalwart 
arms seized him, and hoisted him up on the shoul- 
ders of a couple of gigantic Indians, who at once 
began their march to the front of the mission house, 
where amid the cheering of the crowd a blue ribbon 
was pinned upon the breast of his coat by the trem- 
bling fingers of an equally happy maiden, and her 
name was Winnie. 

147 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 


CHAPTER XI. 

Pasche Disappears — The Search — Big Tom and Mustagan — 
The Whisky Jacks — Pasche Found in a Hollow Tree — Chased 
by an Angry Moose Bull — Pasche Rescued — His Quaint Ac- 
count of His Adventures. 

There was great excitement at Sagasta-weekee 
one morning when word came in that the stableman 
who looked after the cows was missing. In fact, 
he had not been around for three days, and the boy 
who helped him in the stables was scolded for not 
having reported his absence. The name of the 
missing man was Pasche. He was a French half- 
breed who had come up from the Indian settlement 
near Montreal, several years before, in one of the 
canoes of the famous Iroquois brigades that annu- 
ally made the trip up the Ottawa and other rivers 
into Lake Superior to Thunder Bay, and from 
thence by Lake of the Woods and still other rivers 
until they reached Lake Winnipeg. 

Poor Pasche was ignominiously discharged by the 
despotic governor of the LIudson Bay Company, as 
being unfit for the laborious work of a canoeman in 
one of those large canoes. The fact was that it was 
only the most vigorous and muscular men who could 
perform the tremendous task assigned them by that 
tyrannical man, who drove his men on and on with 
all the cruel, callous persistency of a slavedriver. 
No wonder poor, weak Pasche gave out where many 
a stalwart man has also failed. He had been a 

sailor for some years on the St. Lawrence, and had 
148 



Pasche Treed by a Moose* 









IN THE Great Lone Land 

the agility of a monkey in climbing up to the top 
of the masts. The unfortunate fellow was left 
stranded in that wild country, and so out of sym- 
pathy for the poor exile Mr. Ross had given him 
work and a home until he could return to his own 
people. The kindness of his new master made him 
quite contented where he was, and so year after year 
he had remained, and to him had come the care of 
the cows both in the summer and winter. 

Now he was missing, and had been for three days. 
The family was alarmed, as it was such an unusual 
thing for Pasche ever to be away over a night. Mr. 
Ross at once called into the kitchen all who had 
lately seen him or knew anything of his latest fads. 
Of these the poor fellow had quite a number, and 
while some of them were sensible, others of them 
were generally laughed at by his friends. The latest 
one was that he imagined himself a great hunter, 
and had secured some traps and had set them in the 
woods in various places, most of them several miles 
away. The last time he was seen by the stableboy 
was when he had finished the morning work at the 
stable. Then he had taken his gun and ax and 
started off to visit some of his traps. When Mr. 
Ross chided the boy, who had industriously attended 
to all the stable duties alone, he said that Pasche 
had made him promise to say nothing about his 
huntings, for fear he would be laughed at. 

A heavy fall of snow had completely obliterated 
all tracks, and so there was no possibility of follow- 
ing him up in that way. A messenger was sent for 

old Mustagan and Big Tom, both famous Indian 
149 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

guides, and a consultation was held with them. 
They smoked their stone pipes and talked the mat- 
ter over, and then went out. After closely question- 
ing the stableboy they returned to the Indian village. 
Here they secured a couple of sharp, bright little 
beaver dogs. With them they returned to the 
stables, and there, showing the dogs a coat that 
Pasche was in the habit of wearing, and making 
them thoroughly smell it, they tried to get them on 
his trail. All, however, the dogs would do was to 
get back out of the deep snow as quickly as possible 
and into the shelter of the stables. The plan was 
not a success. These dogs were too small for the 
deep snow, and soon the old Indians gave up this 
plan in disgust. Then they strapped on their snow- 
shoes and made a long circuit around the place, and 
thus tried to find out some clew or trace of the miss- 
ing man. Failing in this, they returned to the house, 
and after a hearty meal they equipped themselves to 
find that lost man. They had but little to work on, 
as Pasche had never revealed to anyone the where- 
abouts of his traps. However, Indian eyes are 
sharp, and so, unknown to him, keen hunters had 
observed his doings, and could tell the locality of 
every one of his traps and snares. Those who had 
any knowledge in this direction were summoned, 
and then, with the information thus obtained, the 
two old men set off on their snowshoes. It was not 
long ere they reached his first trap, but the snow 
covered everything there. Then on to his next re- 
sort, still no success ; and thus it was throughout the 
whole round. 


150 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

The Indians were puzzled and perplexed, and as 
they had now been on the go for hours they kindled 
a fire and awaited the arrival of some of the sleds 
with supplies that were to meet them here at this 
designated spot. The boys, who were equally 
grieved and excited with the rest at the loss of 
Pasche, with whom they had had a lot of innocent 
fun, had harnessed up their dog-trains and joined 
the party who brought out the supplies. The meal 
was quickly prepared on the big, roaring fire, and 
vigorous appetites made heavy inroads on the 
abundant supplies which Mrs. Ross had sent. They 
all noticed, while at the meal, the unusual number 
of whisky jacks, the Indian’s sacred bird, that were 
at once attracted b}^ the fire. They were all very 
noisy, and seemed unusually excited. The Indians 
are quick to notice the actions of even the most insig- 
nificent birds when on their hunting or warlike 
excursions. Many a lurking warrior securely hid 
from the keenest human eye has been given away by 
a noisy blue jay or a suspicious cawing crow, and 
has thus failed in his attempt to surprise his enemy, 
and has been obliged to make a hasty retreat. 

In answer to Frank’s question. Big Tom told the 
boys how some of the wild animals are warned by 
the birds of the approach of the hunters, and are 
thus the more difficult to reach. So here the whisky 
jacks, noisy at any time, but unusually so now, at- 
tracted the curiosity of those alert, watchful old 
Indians, as well as much amused the boys with their 
saucy ways. The birds, as usual, clamored around 
the fire, and as long as a crumb or bit of anything 
151 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

could be obtained were very saucy and persistent in 
their begging. It was great fun for the boys to 
feed them, and to even catch some of them by their 
feet, so bold and venturesome were they. They were 
all, however, speedily liberated, as Mustagan and 
Big Tom were anxious, if possible, to learn some- 
thing from them. So the remains of the meal were 
speedily scattered, and while the boys wrapped robes 
around themselves and sat near the fire to keep 
warm, the Indians, lighting their pipes, sat down on 
a log near the fire to watch the actions of the birds. 
For a time they fluttered around and scolded in their 
pert, boisterous manner. Then, seeing there was 
nothing more forthcoming, they began flying about 
in the woods, but occasionally came back to see if 
the next meal was being prepared. Seeing no signs 
of it, they flew further and further away, and now 
principally in one direction. 

After a while the quick ears of Mustagan detected 
a series of unusual cries of the birds. He at once 
called Big Tom’s attention to it, and they both de- 
cided that there was something unusual to cause 
them thus to act. Not knowing but it might be a 
wolverine or a wild cat at which the birds seemed 
to be so angrily scolding, while the boys and the rest 
of the party remained near the fire they took their 
guns and carefully made their way through the 
woods to a spot where, without being seen them- 
selves, they could observe the birds. To their keenest 
investigation nothing unusual was visible. The new, 
trackless snow was as yet unmarked by step of man 
or beast. Still excitedly the birds acted, and inces- 
152 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

santly scolded. Soon the two men noticed that the 
center of their whirlings was a large dead trunk of a 
tree that had been broken off between thirty and 
forty feet from the ground. Around this stub of a 
tree the birds whirled and scolded, and occasionally 
some of them would light on the rough, jagged edge 
of the top and seemed to be peeping down into the 
heart of the dead tree. The curiosity of the men 
was aroused, and they wondered what animal the 
birds had there discovered. Immediately they 
started for it, keeping their guns in readiness to fire 
if it, whatever it was, should attempt to escape. 
When they reached the spot there was not a track 
visible of any animal. The birds whirled around 
if possible more noisily than ever, and so it was evi- 
dent to the men that there was something in that 
tree. Drawing his ax from his belt. Big Tom made 
ready to pound against the side while Mustagan, 
with pointed gun, was on the alert to shoot any ani- 
mal that the noise should disturb and cause to 
attempt to escape. With lusty vigor Big Tom 
pounded away at the old tree, while carefully Mus- 
tagan watched the top. In an instant after there 
were two very much amazed Indians. For from the 
interior of that old tree thus vigorously assailed 
there came the faint cry of a human being! What 
his first words were neither man was particular to 
inquire. It was enough for their quick wits to tell 
them that they had found the lost man for whom 
they were seeking and that he was still alive ! 

At once they lifted up their voices and shouted 
words of cheer and encouragement to the im- 
153 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

prisoned Pasche. Then they called to the rest of 
the party who were at the fire to hasten to them. 
Neither the boys nor the men required a second call. 
They were speedily at the side of the two old In- 
dians who, for such people, were very perceptibly 
excited. 

At first the boys could hardly take in the situation, 
but quickly it dawned on them that here was an 
imprisoned, half-starved man who must be helped 
out of his dangerous predicament. What had best 
be done was the question that Mustagan, Big Tom, 
and the other Indians were discussing. Some sug- 
gested cutting down the big tree at once. This was 
discouraged by some, who said that the blows of the 
ax on the dead tree would dislodge so much dry, 
dusty, rotten wood that it would about smother the 
imprisoned man. So it was quickly decided that 
he must be pulled out of the top where, it was quite 
evident, he had fallen in. At once the tail ropes of 
the sleds and the packing and tie lines, which are 
also made of leather, were fastened together, and 
an effort was made to get one end to the poor fellow 
inside. In the meantime, while these preparations 
were being made by the Indians, the boys en- 
deavored to hold som’e kind of conversation with 
the imprisoned Pasche. 

‘‘Arrah, my man,”'’ Shouted Sam, “and what are 
ye doing inside there?” 

“I fell in,” faintly came back to the listeners. 

“Were ye looking for the cows?” persisted the 
irrepressible Sam, who was a great favorite with 
Pasche, although he often unmercifully chaffed him. 
154 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

‘'No, but a moose bull was looking for me.” 

This answer was the explanation that told the 
whole story ; but, while the old Indians were able to 
now understand at once the whole matter, they left 
it for Pasche, when rescued, to tell his story. So in 
the meantime the question was how to liberate him 
as speedily as possible without injury. They first 
tried by fastening a stone to one end of their impro- 
vised leather rope to so throw it up that it would 
drop into the hollow tree as into a chimney. But 
although they succeeded several times in getting the 
stone to fall in, yet so jagged was the edge of the 
broken wood that the rope would not slide down. 
This plan failing, the next one tried was to cut down 
as large a young tree as the whole party could 
handle, and then carry it and lean it up against the 
hollow tree in which was the imprisoned man. Alec, 
who was a daring climber, at once volunteered to 
climb this, and thus carry up one end of the rope, 
which could then be easily lowered down to Pasche. 
Ere he started Mustagan handed him a ball of deer- 
skin twine, and told him to put that into his pocket, 
as he might need it before he carhe down again. 
Taking off his overcoat, and tightly fastening his 
leather coat around him with his sash belt, Alec gal- 
lantly began his difficult task. It was no easy work, 
as the tree was in some places quite icy and it was 
hard to grip with his hands, which soon began to 
feel the effects of the cold. But he gallantly per- 
severed, and, cheered and encouraged by Sam and 
Frank, he at length succeeded in reaching the top. 

Plere for a time, after a cheery shout to Pasche, he 
155 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

rested, while he warmed his nearly frozen hands in 
his warm mittens, which he had stuck in his sash 
belt. Then, hauling up sufficient length of line, he 
carefully dropped it down to the poor fellow at the 
bottom. But now another difficulty presented itself 
to him. He alone could not haul out the imprisoned 
man, and the men below could be of little service, 
as the rope if pulled on would surely get caught in 
the ragged edge of the rotten tree. It was now that 
Alec saw the value of Mustagan’s forethought in 
giving him that ball of deerskin twine. 

Calling up to him Mustagan said : 

'‘Hold on to the end of that twine, and let the ball 
drop to me.” 

This Alec at once did. Then Mustagan fastened 
a good solid green birch stick about four feet long 
and five or six inches in diameter to the string, and 
then said to Alec : 

“Now draw it up and lay it across the top of the 
tree, where it will rest firm and strong.” 

This was quickly done. Then calling to Pasche 
to tie the end let down to him about his waist, and 
then to hold on, he placed the rope over the strong, 
smooth green stick he had pulled up, and then gave 
the word to the men- below to haul away. No second 
order was necessary, and soon Pasche was pulled up 
to the top. He had no difficulty in slipping down 
the inclined tree, weak as he was. Alec also safely 
reached the ground. Poor Pasche was quickly 
placed on a dog-sled, and they all hurried back to 
the fire, where some tea and -food were hastily pre- 
pared for the hungry, half-frozen man. He was so 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

weak and exhausted that it was thought best not to 
trouble him to tell his story until they had all re- 
turned to Sagasta-weekee. 

The journey home was soon made, and there was 
great rejoicing at the recovery of the poor fellow. 
The following is his quaint story of his adventures : 

“Well, you see, I was emulous. Les gargons — 
the boys — they succeed. They capture le renard 
— the fox — the wild cat, and other animals. And 
still they not natives. So I think it over when I milk 
la vache, and Sam he pushed open la porte and he 
show me fine cross-fox he caught, and that make 
me emulous. So I take my wage le maitre he give, 
and I exchange for the traps. When my work is 
done, en avant, on I go to the great woods. Aller 
a pied — I walk — I carry my traps, I set them with 
much bait. I get nothing. Le chien — the dog — he 
follows, he gets in the traps. Then I try again. I 
go far away this time. I set my traps, I await with 
tranquillite. It is far in the woods. I wait trois 
days. Then I go to see if le renard, like Sam’s, is 
in my trap. Aussitot que possible — as soon as pos- 
sible — I reach my traps. There is no renard. So I 
return home. II fait nuit — it is night. Then I say, 
A quoi bon? — What good is it? — and I stay with 
my cows. But Sam he comes again and he say great 
things about la chasse — the hunting — and so I say, 
I try again ; and this time I take the great wolf trap 
that hang in the stable, and I start early, and I go 
far in the woods, and I set my traps, and I put the 
big one, the wolf trap, set with a log made fast to 

the chain, and then I retourner — return — to my 
157 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

duties. Three days pass, then I advance again in 
the woods. It is far. II fait de la neige — it is snow- 
ing — when I draw near. I hear a great noise. I 
draw nearer still. I see the great moose bull, with 
his hind foot in the wolf trap. He also sees me. I 
raise a great shout. A quoi bon ? — What good is it ? 
He comes for me. Voulez-vous ? — I say. So I fire 
my fusil — gun — at him. Still he comes, for now I 
remember I only had shot for partridge in that gun. 
J’ai chaud — I am hot. He makes me so, he looks so 
fierce. His great ears, his long face, all his hair 
point toward me. I turn, I run. So does he run, 
but it is toward me. Still he comes. He has still the 
wolf trap on his foot. The log is fastened to the 
chain, so it troubles, him. Still on he comes. I can 
keep ahead, on account of the log, but the log slips 
off the chain. So now he comes faster. I run, I 
fly. I see him draw near. He looks diabolical. I 
despair. I see this tree like the mast broken off in 
the storm. I learn to climb well when I sail on the 
ship. I rush to the tree with the moose bull close 
behind me. I drop my mittens, I seize hold of the 
rough bark, I climb up just as that animal, like le 
diable — the devil — he rush up, and he strike his 
great horns against the tree where I was, but I not 
there, I just above, out of his reach. I dare not go 
back. So up and up I climb like the sailor as I was, 
and when I get to the top I find plenty of sticks 
there, where some time ago the crows they make 
the nest, and it seem strong, and as I could not hold 
on at the sides of the tree I pull myself up and I try 

to stand on those sticks, and they break sudden and 
158 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

I drop, I fall, I sink down into the tree. I throw out 
my arms to catch hold, but the tree is rotten wood 
inside, so I lose my grip. The wood it come down 
with me. I sink into the depths, and there I was. 
The rotten wood made a great dust as down I slide. 
It nearly choke me. I cannot call out; my mouth, 
my eyes, my throat all full. There I stay. I could 
not climb out, the place too small. I could not work 
up my knees, so there I stay. My heart gets very 
sad soon. II fait nuit — it is night. I am lost. 
Good-bye, I say, to all. I weep and then I sleep, I 
wake up with a start, then I sleep again. When I 
wake again, il fait clair — it is light — above and I 
rejoice. The dust is all out of my eyes and mouth. 
I can move back my head enough to look up and see 
the blue sky. Then I call aloud, but there is no 
response. I then remember I have some food in my 
pocket. It is difficile to get at it, but I succeed. I 
eat it, it is very good. Then I find I have my knife 
in my pocket. I call again and again. I think I 
hear a reply; but it is only the birds, the whisky 
jacks. They fly across my vision at the top; they 
look at me, they scream, they mock me. Never 
mind, I have my knife; so I will hope to cut my way 
out. It is easy cutting in the rotten wood. But the 
dust affects me. I cough much. I can work but 
little. I have to wait for the dust to settle. The air 
is bad. When I get to the hard outside wood I can 
do nothing, my strength is gone. It is hard to 
breathe when I keep still. It is worse when I try 
to work. So I give myself up to die. I call out at 
times, and I try to think of my friends, and I try to 
159 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

pray, and that comforts me best of all. Thus passes 
this second day, and now I am very faint. I can 
just easily move round in my prison, but I cannot 
sit down or lie down. I am very tired. Still I call, 
and more and more the whisky jacks come and 
mock me. They seem angry I have nothing for 
them, and so they scold, as they do at the camp fire 
when we feed them nothing. To-day for a time 
they left me, and then they came back and seemed 
to laugh at me, and then I heard Mustagan and Big 
Tom call, and I was rescued. 

“Je suis facile — I am sorry — I went hunting. I 
will go no more. Sam may continue.” 

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The Meeting of Kinesasis and Shakoona* 




IN THE Great Lone Land 


CHAPTER XIL 

Kinesasis’s Wonderful Story — How He Wooed Shakoona — 
Their Youthful Days — Miskoodell Rescued from the Bear — 
Oosahmekoo with His Gold — Kinesasis’s Successful Hunt — 
His Furs Stolen — Marries Shakoona — Conflict with the Old 
Warrior. 

The romantic and thoroughly characteristic In- 
dian way in which Kinesasis had obtained his Indian 
wife was one that had very much interested Mr. 
and Mrs. Ross. They had known him for many 
years, and had ever been pleased with the kindly, 
helpful way in which he had always treated his wife, 
whom he called Shakoona. “Shakoona” means “the 
snow-white one,” and those who knew her well, and 
studied her quiet, gentle manner, said she was well 
named. The terrible loss of her children had been 
such a shock that her once black, luxuriant tresses 
had become as white as the snow, making her name 
more impressive than ever before. 

The story of how he had obtained his wife Kine- 
sasis was induced to tell one evening at Sagasta- 
weekee, when fierce winds were howling around 
the place and at times seemed to strike with such 
fury against the house that they appeared like wild 
beasts shrieking for their prey. As a general thing 
Kinesasis was not very communicative on matters 
relating to himself, but as Mrs. Ross, who had some 
knowledge of how he had obtained his wife — indeed, 
her mother had a little to do with its consummation 
— had asked him to tell it for the pleasure of the 
II 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

boys and some good friends who had come over for 
a day or two from the mission, he could not refuse. 

The great log fire roared in the large fireplace in 
the dining room, while round it gathered the ex- 
pectant listeners. Mrs. Ross had sent over to Kine- 
sasis's little home and had brought from thence 
Shakoona, his wife. She was now, like Kinesasis, 
getting up in years, yet she was the same shy, clever, 
modest, retiring woman she had ever been, and yet, 
as will be seen, there was that latent courage in her 
that mother’s love can best bring out. The inevita- 
ble pipe had to be produced and gravely smoked by 
Kinesasis, and those who would smoke with him, 
ere the talking could begin. When this ceremony 
was over Kinesasis, looking kindly at Shakoona, 
began : 

‘‘We had been children together in the forest. 
Our fathers’ wigwams were not far apart. With 
other Indian children we had played in the wild 
woods, among the rocks and on the shores of the 
great lakes. When large enough to help I had to go 
and try my skill in setting snares for the rabbits and 
partridges and other small game. The trail along 
which I used to travel each morning, as I visited my 
snares and traps, was the one in which I often found 
little Shakoona getting sticks for the fire in her 
father’s wigwam. He was a stern man and cruel, 
and very fond of gain. 

“The years rolled on, and I was now a hunter, and 
could use the bow and arrows of my forefathers, as 
well as the gun of the white man, which was now 

being brought into the country. Shakoona was now 
162 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

grown up, and was no longer a child. We often 
met, and let it be known that we loved each other. 
Shakoona’s mother and the other members of her 
family were my friends, and they all had good rea- 
son to be my friends, for one summer, some years 
before, when Miskoodell was a little child, I saved 
her from the paws of a bear. Her mother had gone 
out to gather moss and dry it for the winter use. 
She had Miskoodell strapped in her moss-bag cradle, 
with its board at the back. While the mother was 
at work she left her little baby girl in her cradle 
standing up against a tree. As the moss was not 
very good just around that spot the mother wan- 
dered off quite a distance to find where it was better. 
While she was thus hard at work a large black bear 
came along from the opposite direction. I happened 
to be out in the woods with my bow and arrows 
shooting partridges and what other small game I 
could find, for I was then only a boy. 

‘‘Where this moss grows the ground is very damp, 
and it is easy to walk very still. I came along, not 
being far behind the bear, and there the first thing 
I saw was that big bear with that baby, cradle, and 
all in his forearms. He was standing up on his 
hind legs and holding it awkwardly, like a man 
does.” 

This last remark created quite a laugh at Kine- 
sasis's expense; but Mrs. Ross came to his rescue, 
and declared that the expression was correct. “For 
a man,” she said, “always awkwardly holds a young 
baby — the first one, anyway,” she added, as she saw 

her amused husband laughing at her. 

163 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

“Go on, Kinesasis. You said last that the bear 
was standing on his hind legs, and awkwardly hold- 
ing the baby, as a man does,” said Mrs. Ross. 

Thus encouraged by the lady whom he so greatly 
respected, he went on, and only modified his state- 
ment by saying: 

“Indian men do, anyway. Well, there I was, not 
very far behind and well hid behind the trees, and I 
watched that bear, and I think if I had been a white 
boy I would have laughed. Strange to say, the baby 
did not cry, but seemed pleased to have some one 
lift it up in the cradle. The bear would put his big 
nose in the baby’s face very gently, and it seemed to 
like to feel this cold nose. All at once I saw by the 
fine bead work in the cradle that it was the child of 
the mother of Shakoona, whom I loved, the little 
Miskoodell. Then I thought the mother of the child 
must be near, and while the bear is kind to the child, 
as bears of that kind always are, it will surely attack 
the mother when she comes. So, boylike, I resolved, 
in my great love for Shakoona, to try and kill that 
bear. It was well for me that I had some steel- 
pointed arrowheads, obtained at the traders’ shop. 
These I had not been using, as they were too valu- 
able to risk losing in shooting small game. How- 
ever, here was game big enough. So I at once 
removed the flints from three of my best arrows, 
and quickly lashed on these long steel points with 
sinew. 

“All this time the bear was still fooling with that 
child. He would turn it round and round, and then 

sometimes he would set it down, as though he 
164 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

wanted it to walk off with him. At length, after 
failing in this, it seemed to me as if he were going 
to start off and carry the child with him. When I 
saw this I knew that I must now try and shoot him. 
So I crawled along on the mossy ground, and 
dodged from tree to tree until I was very near him. 
Once or twice I was going to shoot, but I was afraid 
of hitting the child. All at once I saw him drop the 
cradle and straighten himself up and listen. He had 
heard something that startled him. It was the 
mother coming back. Now in the distance I, too, 
could see her coming. She had a large bundle of 
moss on her head which she was supporting with 
both hands. She had neither gun nor knife. 

‘‘I could wait no longer. I drew my arrow to the 
head of my bow and, as the bear was standing up 
with his side toward me, and his paws were well up, 
I aimed for his side, just under the leg, and sent the 
arrow with all the force I could. I was perhaps 
twelve years old, but I well knew, like Indian boys, 
how to use the bow. My arrow struck just where I 
wanted it to. It entered his side near the heart. 
With a savage growl he jumped, but he had not seen 
or heard me. He only saw and felt the arrow, and 
so that was his only enemy, he thought. That is 
the advantage of hunting with the bow over the gun. 
If you can keep hidden, with bow and arrows the 
animals are not alarmed at your presence, but with 
a noisy gun the animal knows where you are and 
comes for you. So it was in this case; the bear only 
tried to get hold of the arrow that was sticking into 

his side. He twisted himself round and round and 
165 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

tried to pull it out with his paw on the opposite side, 
but I had sent it with such force that he could not 
succeed. The more he worked at it the more the 
blood poured out of the wound. He seemed to have 
forgotten now all about the child and the coming 
mother, so I was sure he was badly hurt. But he 
was far from dead, and very angry at the arrow, so I 
thought I would give him another one. This one 
I sent into the other side, as he was moving round 
and round. When this second one struck him he 
seemed to think that he was in the wrong place, and 
had better start for his den; and so off he hurried, 
coming right by where I was hid. I still had one 
steel-pointed arrow. With this one ready to shoot 
I sprang up before him. I was going to try and 
shoot him between the eyes, but at the sight of me 
he threw up his head, and so I shot the arrow into 
his throat. He gave one great spring at me, but it 
was his last, and there he lay quite dead. When 
we opened him we found that one of my arrows had 
entered into his heart, and when he made that last 
spring at me it did its work. The mother of Sha- 
koona picked up the cradle in which was Miskoodell, 
and found her child uninjured. She was of our 
race, and therefore did not say much, but I knew 
that I had made a friend. 

“Some years went by, and I brought my presents 
and asked the father of Shakoona for her to be my 
wife, but he was stern and cruel, and appeared to 
have forgotten that I had rescued Miskoodell. In- 
deed, when told the story he only said, Tt was only 

a girl, anyway, that was rescued.’ Since we have 
166 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

become Christians, thanks to the missionaries, we 
now think as much of the girls as of the boys. But 
Wahbunoo, for that was his name, spurned my few 
gifts, for he was very selfish, and said that he that 
would receive Shakoona must bring many gifts, and 
even the 'Keche Shuneou,’ the gold of the white 
man, ere he could have her. This was bad news, but 
I saw he was strong in his mind, and so I gathered 
up my gifts, which with all Indian ceremony I had 
laid at his feet, and without a word I left his wig- 
wam. That night Shakoona and I met for a short 
time, and we gave our promise to each other, and 
vowed to be true to each other, no matter what 
might happen. 

As I saw it was a large price Wahbunoo wanted, 
I plunged that fall into the forest with my traps and 
plenty of weapons. My object was to hunt very 
hard, and so be able in the springtime to bring in so 
many skins of the silver and black foxes, with 
beaver, mink, otter, marten, and other rich furs, that 
I could change them for rich presents, or even for 
gold, with the traders, and thus cause Wahbunoo to 
look kindly on my gifts and grant me my wish. To 
carry out this purpose I went far away, where I was 
told by hunters that but few ever hunted and that 
the game I was after was very plentiful. The reason 
why it was so little visited by hunters was that it 
was reported that great Windegoos, man-eaters, 
there haunted the deep forests, and that many hunt- 
ers had mysteriously disappeared. They had gone 
there with great hopes of success, but had never re- 
turned. The man-eating Windegoos, that were so 
167 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

great and high that they could brush the trees aside 
as they walked along, they said, had devoured them. 
So it was said and believed by many. So great was 
my love for Shakoona that I cared for none of these 
stories, and was willing to run all risks for her sake ; 
and so I made the many days’ journey and reached 
those hunting grounds. All winter I worked hard, 
and met with good success. 

But while I was far away things were going on at 
the spot where dwelt Shakoona that were to my 
hurt. One day there walked into her father’s tent a 
great chief having on his face and body the scars of 
many battles. But while he was surely a brave war- 
rior he was a man of fierce temper, and some of the 
wives he already had showed the marks of his fierce 
anger. The top of the head of one of them was hard 
and dry, for Oosahmekoo — that was his name — had 
in his anger, because she had not quickly prepared 
his dinner, rushed at her and, circling the spot with 
his knife, had torn away the scalp; and still she 
lived. This Oosahmekoo was the man who came 
with his gifts to buy from Wahbunoo the beautiful 
young Shakoona. He had gone off with another 
tribe in the south, called the Sioux, and in one of 
their warlike excursions they had attacked a band 
of white people passing over the prairies. They had 
crawled up to them in the darkness of night, and as 
the watchers had gone to sleep they had killed them 
all. Among the pillage and plunder was a bag of 
gold. The Sioux then knew not of its worth, so 
they gave it to Oosahmekoo, and as he had been 
much among the fur traders he knew it was valuable 

i68 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

and carefully kept it. He had seen Shakoona as she 
industriously did her work, and wanted her for 
another wife. When he entered the wigwam his 
manner was so proud and unceremonious that even 
Wahbunoo’s temper got the mastery over his love 
for gold, and he refused to let Shakoona be the sixth 
wife of a man who had no more respect for the cus- 
tom of the tribe, and would thus act before the 
father whose girl he wished to buy. So he had to 
pick up his bag of gold and leave the wigwam. His 
having to leave in this way gave great joy to the 
mother of Shakoona, and to her brothers and sisters, 
especially Miskoodell, who was now a bright young 
girl herself. 

^‘But old Oosahmekoo, although repulsed this 
time, was not to be easily put off. He saw that he 
had broken the usages of his tribe in the way that 
he had acted, and so, pretending to hide his anger, 
he found times to meet the father of Shakoona and 
offer his gold for her. Without letting him know 
the reason of their so doing, his family all seemed 
very indignant that Oosahmekoo should have so in- 
sulted the old father, and so^they kept him in such a 
state that he refused the chief’s offer, but not in such 
a way as to discourage him from persisting in his 
efforts. 

‘The winter passed awa}^, and I prepared to re- 
turn with my heavy pack of rich furs. On the trail 
of many days I reached the hunting lodges of some 
of our people, who, being near, had frequently gone 
to the village. There they had learned about the 
efforts of Oosahmekoo to buy my Indian maiden, 
169 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

and of it they told me. When I heard it my heart 
got hot, and I clutched my knife and said something, 
but my friends urged me to be wise and careful, for 
the old chief was cruel and powerful. Some of them 
with lighter loads hurried on, and one who was my 
true friend went fast and quietly told Shakoona that 
I was coming on the trail. And some one else had 
told Oosahmekoo, and had also told him that I was 
the favorite hunter of Shakoona, and that I was 
bringing home sufficient rich furs to more than 
equal his gold in value, to lay at the feet of Wah- 
bunoo. The news given to Shakoona filled her heart 
with joy, while that given to the old chief made him 
furious and eager to destroy me. With the help of 
her mother, who remembered how I had killed the 
bear and thus likely saved her life, Shakoona was 
able to get away, and met me on the trail long before 
I entered the village. From her I heard all there 
was to know. She put her arms around my neck 
and kissed me, and said she would die before she 
would be the sixth wife of such a man. There we 
promised that we would rather die than be separated. 
We saw that we would have to be very wise and 
careful, as my friends had said. I was glad to learn 
that all my maiden’s family were friendly to me. 
Only a little while dare Shakoona stay with me. If 
her stern fathei' missed her there would be trouble, 
even if his love for her was only what she by her 
sale could bring to him. Before she left me I told 
her that in due form to-morrow I would enter her 
father’s wigwam and open my pack of rich furs be- 
fore him, and by their value would win his consent. 

170 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

Then she kissed me and quickly hurried back again. 
That night following was a bad night for me.” 

For a time Kinesasis paused in his narrative, and 
seemed, Indian though he was, to be deeply moved, 
while his aged wife buried her head in her blanket 
and bowed to the floor. Mr. Ross, who knew his 
story, respected the old man’s feelings, and for a 
short time said and did nothing; then he filled the 
calumet and gave it to him. The tobacco and the 
rest quieted his perturbed spirits, and handing back 
the pipe he continued his most fascinating story : 

''Yes, that night I entered the village was indeed 
a bad night for me. Evil eyes had been on Sha- 
koona. Cunning steps had followed her, and sharp 
ears had heard enough of our story to find out what 
I was going to do next day with my valuable furs 
that I had been eight long moons in hunting. As 
I entered the outskirts of the village I was met by 
a young Indian with the word that the wigwam of 
my relatives was cold and empty, as they had not yet 
returned from their hunting grounds, which were 
in an opposite direction from the way in which I had 
come. Very cordial seemed the invitation of that 
man for me to rest that night in his wigwam, which 
was a large one, being made of many dressed buf- 
falo skins sewed together. 

"Without any distrust I accepted his invitation, 
as was the manner of our people, and was glad to 
unstrap my heavy load of furs, as well as my gun 
and traps and blanket. With much more attention 
than is generally shown to one thus coming in, this 
Indian helped me in various ways. With a good 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

deal of show he hung up my gun and traps for me, 
and placed my pack of furs tightly back against the 
leather wall of the wigwam. In the meantime fish 
and venison were brought in, and a good supper was 
prepared and eaten. Afterward we smoked and 
talked for some time, and then prepared to sleep. 
Noticing that the wind outside was rising, he 
showed me a place where I could spread my blanket 
where there would be no draft, but it was away from 
my pack of furs. At first I thought I would bring 
my furs from the place where they had been put 
and place them at my head, but this I saw would 
give offense, and now as some young children were 
lying down to sleep near them there was not enough 
room for me. Still a little fearful, I made an excuse 
and stepped out of the wigwam for a minute. There 
I saw that the snow was well piled up against the 
leather wall all around. This quieted my fears, and 
so I returned into the wigwam, and being very 
weary was soon fast asleep. In the morning my 
furs were gone! A thief in the night had cut 
through the leather, making a hole so large that he 
could easily and noiselessly lift out my pack of furs. 
He had left the upper part uncut, so that as quickly 
as he had obtained the pack he could let the leather 
down again and thus cover up the hole. For fear 
the wind should get in and disturb the inmates he 
had quietly laid a large deerskin over the whole 
place on the outside. I was in a sad state the next 
morning, but I kept my lips closed and said but 
little. The Indian family were much excited and 

angry at the theft. The young Indian who had in- 
172 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

vited me in made a greater ado than anyone. I sus- 
pected him at once of being the one who had robbed 
me, but I had then no evidence, and so carefully held 
my tongue. But I thought a great deal, and in time 
I found out that he was in the plot. 

“What to do I knew not. However, refusing to 
again eat under the wigwam where I had been so 
robbed, I took my gun, blanket, and traps and 
pushed on to the wigwam of my friends, and to my 
surprise found them in it, and there they had been 
for some days. Then I knew that that young Indian 
was an enemy. To my friends I told of my success, 
and of my loss. We set about the recovery of them 
at once. Runners were sent to every trading post 
describing the contents of the packs and telling the 
traders the circumstances of the robbery. There 
was great indignation. Such robberies are very rare. 
If the thieves are found out they are generally 
quickly poisoned by the conjurers of the tribe. That 
is one of the things they are expected to do. A rob- 
ber of traps or furs is soon poisoned. Then the 
traders themselves are down on these things. So 
the story of the theft was soon known, but the furs 
were not recovered until a long time after. 

“Wahbunoo was very cold and repellent. He 
would not believe my story, and so refused to have 
me come to his wigwam. So Shakoona and I had 
to meet when we could, and that was not often, for 
the father was cruel and Oosahmekoo had many 
spies. Still, we had many friends. Miskoodell, the 
little sister, was sharp and shrewd, and helped us 
greatly by warning us of danger. So did her 
173 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

brother, Netahwatee. He was a good hunter, and 
had friends who had seen the furs. He had been on 
the alert, and had found out that the young Indian 
who had invited me into his wigwam had during the 
winter hung around the tent and had asked Sha- 
koona to be his wife. She had repelled him with 
scorn, and Netahwatee had told him that she was 
fond of Kinesasis, and that even now he was away 
in the forest hunting, to bring in sufficient rich furs 
to buy the consent of their father. At this news 
from Netahwatee, he arose and left the tent, but he 
ground his teeth as he went out. After that he was 
often seen in earnest talk with Oosahmekoo, the old 
chief, and it was the belief of many that they had 
been the ones who had planned the stealing of the 
furs. But they were cunning, and so covered up the 
tracks that a long time passed ere the truth came out. 
But, although some of the family were friendly to- 
ward me, the father of Shakoona turned more and 
more against us. The gold of the old chief was 
offered again and again, and at length I heard that 
there was a likelihood that he would yield, although 
Shakoona still declared that she would throw her- 
self from the cliff into the lake rather than marry 
him. And this I think she would have done, for we 
loved each other, and do still.” 

Here the old man stooped over and, tenderly lift- 
ing up the head of his aged wife, kissed her on the 
forehead. 

“One da}^ some little boys out hunting rabbits 
among the great rocks overheard some earnest talk- 
ing. At first they were frightened, and were about 
174 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

running home when one of them, who was Sha- 
koona’s youngest brother, proposed that they creep 
to the top of the rocks and try and see who the 
talkers were on the other side. Noiselessly they 
crawled to the top, and then as they peeked over 
whom should they see but Wahbunoo and Oosahme- 
koo in earnest talk ? They saw the chief with a fire 
bag that seemed heavy and saw him offer it to 
Wahbunoo, who took it and held it. Then the little 
boys slid down the rocks and returned to the tents. 
Netahwatee’s little brother told what he had seen, 
and the brother told his mother and Miskoodell. 
They talked it over, and Miskoodell was sent to 
warn us of what was being done. 

“So that very night we quietly left the village and 
hurried to a place where Netahwatee, who had gone 
on some hours before, met us with a white man, a 
missionary. He was pleased to hear from Netah- 
watee that there was an Indian couple who wanted 
to be married by the Book, in the Christian way, and 
not in the old pagan Indian manner; but,’’ said 
Kinesasis, with a bit of a twinkle in his eye, “he did 
think it was a queer idea of ours that we wanted to 
be married out there in the forest by moonlight. 
However, as we had with us what he called wit- 
nesses, he married us. We did not then return to the 
village, but went off with some friendly relatives at 
a trading post where the Indians were all Christians. 
Netahwatee and the others who had been with us 
went back at once and told how we had met the 
missionary and had been married with the Book. 
Strange to say, when Wahbunoo heard this he said 
175 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

he did not care, and would not oppose us as we were 
married by the Book. He was very superstitious, 
and was afraid that evil would come to him if he 
seemed to be angry with anyone who had had any- 
thing to do with the Book. 

^‘It was very different, however, with Oosahme- 
koo, the old chief. He was wild with anger. He 
made many threats. He was not as cunning as he 
generally was, and so he told his plans to get re- 
venge. He was going to waylay me and kill me on 
the trail. Some of my friends overheard his threats, 
and a swift runner put me on my guard. I felt that 
my youth was a match for his years, and then I had 
won my loved Shakoona. So I had no fear. I left 
my wife among friends, and I started on the return 
trail. We met in conflict, and I was not hurt. He 
was quietly buried the next day.” 

Here Kinesasis ceased. He could say no more 
that night, the memory of the battle came up so 
vividly before him, although many years had passed 
away since it had occurred. Since then he and his 
old wife had become Christians. He paused for an 
instant, and then went over to the place where on the 
floor the heroine of his story, his true little wife, had 
sat during the long recital. Then tucking her arm 
in his, as lovingly and as affectionately as any white 
man could have done, they quickly slipped out of the 
house and returned to their own little dwelling place. 

176 


IN THE Great Lone Land 


CHAPTER XIII. 

Comments on Kinesasis’s Wonderful Story — The Pack of 
Furs Recovered — Honesty of Indians — Their Different Hunt- 
ing Grounds — The Golden Rule — The Dishonest Foreign In- 
dian — His Sudden Death. 

The next morning the wonderful story of Kine- 
sasis, which had produced such a deep impression on 
all, was thoroughly discussed. During its recital 
some one had quietly turned down the lamps, and 
thus the lights from the bright fireplace had full play 
upon him. This seemed to add to the effect of the 
scene, as frequently Kinesasis, in his intense earnest- 
ness and few but strong movements, stood in the 
bright light or turned into a shadowy place. As the 
story was light and shadowy itself, so also seemed 
in appearance this dramatic old Indian so eloquent 
with his theme. He had deeply stirred and excited 
the boys as he had moved along in his story; and 
not only this, but he had changed their ideas con- 
cerning him. This complete revulsion of feeling had 
come at the close, when the old Indian, whom they 
had thought was so cold and destitute of sentiment, 
had stooped down and kissed his wife, as he had 
also done before during the recital of the story. It 
was done in a way that was so real and genuine that 
it completely broke them down. They declared that 
morning that they would not quickly judge anyone 
again. They had thought him phlegmatic and un- 
lovable, and now here had come out from the heart 
of this Indian, of such a rugged exterior, a story 
12 177 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

and an exhibition of love and devotion more genuine 
and beautiful than any that had ever been revealed 
to them in song or story. 

“And for very many years,” said Mrs. Ross, “he 
has been kind and true to that quiet, industrious 
little wife, who as a young maiden was so true to 
him and would undoubtedly have died rather than 
marry that chief.” 

“What about his pack of furs?” said Frank. 
“And did they find out the thief and put the con- 
jurers after him?” 

“I am glad you have mentioned it,” said Mr. 
Ross. “I have heard Kinesasis tell the story of their 
recovery, and will give you his version of it. As 
regards the actual transgressors, they must have 
been the old chief who was killed and the young 
Indian whom Shakoona had refused. When the 
old chief was killed the young fellow disappeared 
and was never heard of afterward. When the 
leather wigwam that had been cut into was care- 
fully examined it was found that the knife had been 
used on the inside, and that the great pack of furs 
had been handed out, so there must have been at 
least two persons engaged in the robbery. Weeks 
later some women out snaring rabbits in a dense 
swampy place found the pack cached up among the 
branches of a great spruce tree. It was so completely 
hidden in the close branches that it was a won- 
der that they ever discovered it. The only clew they 
had was that a great wolverine came tumbling out 
of the tree and hurried away into the dense forest. 
The women, like the men, knew what clever animals 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

these wolverines are to find out where venison or 
other game has been hid away until needed. So, as 
their curiosity was excited, they carefully searched 
the tree, which was a very large one, and there in 
among the dense branches they found the pack of 
Kinesasis. They were not able to reach it, but re- 
ported their discovery when they returned to the 
village. Kinesasis and others were soon after it. It 
was well that they found it when they did, as the 
wolverine had cut through the outer coverings of 
deerskin and had already ruined several valuable 
furs. In an hour more there would have been noth- 
ing worth taking away, so terribly destructive are 
these animals when they thus find anything of fur or 
game. 

‘^Strange to say, old Wahbunoo would not accept 
anything from Kinesasis. The death of the old 
chief had very much disturbed him, and it also gave 
him such an idea of Kinesasis’ s prowess that he had 
to respect him. The bag of gold also disappeared, 
and to this day none knows what became of it. Kine- 
sasis carried his furs to the Hudson Bay Company’s 
store, and received enough for them to make him 
and Shakoona comfortable for many a day.” 

‘T have alv/ays heard that Indians were so honest 
with each other about their furs and traps,” said 
Alec; 'Tut this stealing of Kinesasis’s whole pack 
seems to knock that idea over. What are we to 
believe about it?” 

"What you have heard about the honesty of the 
Indians is the truth,” said Mr. Ross. "This steal- 
ing of the furs of Kinesasis was not an ordinary 
179 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

theft for gain. The object of it was to prevent him 
from having sufficient gifts to satisfy the father of 
the maiden of his choice. The fact that the furs 
were hid away as they were showed this. They 
could not bury them, as the ground was frozen like 
granite ; they dare not burn them for fear of detec- 
tion ; and the ice was too thick on the rivers or lakes 
to be quickly cut through. It was very evident that 
they did not try to sell them.” 

“But did not the thieves hide them there so that 
they could go and get them, and sell them when the 
excitement of their loss had passed over ?” said Alec, 
who was a boy who had a habit of seeing things 
from different sides and liked to have all the diffi- 
culties cleared up. 

Mr. Ross admired this trait in Alec’s character, 
and always endeavored to meet it in a way that was 
helpful to the lad. So to this last question his 
answer was : 

“No Indian who wished to preserve anything of 
value for future use would think of putting it up in 
such a place. They all know the thievish, destruc- 
tive habits of the wolverines, and other animals of 
that kind, that quickly detect and destroy every- 
thing destructible if placed in a tree in the manner 
in which this was done. The wonder was that this 
was not found out much sooner and completely 
destroyed.” 

“Tell us, please,” said Sam, “how the hunters act 
toward each other in regard to their hunting 
grounds and furs. Have they any titles to the dif- 
ferent places where they hunt year after year ?” 
i8o 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

“They have no written titles,” said Mr. Ross, 
“but for generations the same families have hunted 
in the same localities. Then some Indians, genera- 
tion after generation, are noted as famous hunters 
of certain animals. For example. Big Tom is noted 
as a successful moose hunter, and so were his im- 
mediate ancestors. Others made a specialty of the 
beavers, others of the otter, and thus it went. These 
Indian families naturally had localities where these 
different animals abounded, although there were 
seasons when other varieties of fur-bearing animals 
swarmed through these regions, and for a time were 
really more numerous than the ones there generally 
hunted. As might have been expected, the hunters 
of the moose, reindeer, black bears, and other large 
animals that wander over immense districts had the 
right of following them in any direction. The 
hunters and trappers of the rich fur-bearing animals, 
however, generally kept in certain regions year after 
year. Sometimes a hunter in order to reach his own 
grounds had to pass through what we might call the 
preserves of three or four different families. I once 
accompanied a hunter to his grounds, and we saw no 
less than seventy traps of other Indians on the trail 
as we passed along mile after mile. In one of them 
was a beautiful mink. My Indian companion at 
once stopped, and, putting his pack off his back, 
opened it and cut off some of his bait. Then he took 
the mink out of the trap and reset it, supplying it 
with his own bait. The mink he tied to the top of 
a young sapling, which he bent down for the pur- 
pose. When he let go of the young tree it sprang 

i8i 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

up so that the mink hung in the air, about fifteen 
feet from the ground. Here it was safe from the 
prowling wolverines and other animals. Then the 
Indian made some peculiar marks upon the tree with 
his ax. His pack was then again shouldered, and we 
proceeded on our way. I was very much interested 
in his proceedings, and so when he had completed 
his work I asked him if that trap belonged to his 
brother or some relative. 

“ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘I do not yet know whose hunt- 
ing ground this is, but my duty is to do as you have 
seen me act. Perhaps when that hunter comes along 
to-morrow or next day he will find another mink in 
that trap. Then with two instead of one he will be 
the more pleased.’ ” 

“Well done, honest Indian!” shouted the boys, 
when they heard this. “There is a lesson for many 
a white man.” 

“And boys, too,” added Sam. 

Continuing, Mr. Ross said : “This was the under- 
stood custom. It might seem a little burdensome on 
the man who had the farthest to go, and quite a tax 
on his supply of bait. But then he had the advan- 
tage when he reached his hunting grounds, in that 
there were fewer human footsteps, and, in all proba- 
bility, correspondingly more game.” 

“Were there no exceptions — none who would 
take a mink or otter if they had a chance from a 
neighbor’s trap, if they thought they could escape 
detection,” asked Alec. 

“I only remember of one case occurring in many 

years,” said Mr. Ross, “and there was soon a dead 
182 


IN THE Great Lone Land 


man at the end of it. It was the winter after the 
great flood in Red River. A number of Indians who 
lived near its mouth were driven out by the great 
flood. Some of them came into this North country. 
The most of them were industrious and worked 
hard. By fishing, shooting, and hunting where no 
persons specially claimed the localities they did well, 
and got on as did the others. There were a few 
among them who apparently did nothing, but 
lounged about and lived on the industrious ones. 
No notice was taken of these. There was one man, 
however, who soon began to be talked about. He 
was not known to have any traps, nor was he ever 
seen to make any dead falls or other things to catch 
the fur-bearing animals. Yet he often sauntered 
into the trading post and brought out from under 
his coat a fine mink or marten, and sometimes even 
a splendid otter. Soon some of the hunters began 
to speak about strange tracks about their traps. One 
hunter told of how he had visited one of his otter 
traps and had found a quantity of hairs of an otter 
on the teeth, and yet the trap was set. He had also 
observed where somebody who chewed tobacco had 
been spitting on the snow near this same otter trap. 
Now, while these northern Indians are great smok- 
ers, they never chew tobacco, but this suspected man, 
who had in the Red River country bee*n much with 
the whites, was nearly always chewing and spitting. 
Then there was the suspicious circumstance that a 
few days after he was offering at the Company’s 
store a fine otter skin for sale. The Indians then 
were nearly all pagans, and there was no law in the 
183 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

land but their own tribal one. A secret council was 
held, and it was decided to put a watch on this man. 
Two or three of the cleverest Indians were ap- 
pointed to watch his steps. Cunning though he was, 
they were too clever for him, and they so well fol- 
lowed him up that they saw him take a mink out of a 
trap. Then, resetting the trap, he hid the mink 
under his coat, and rapidly disappeared in the forest. 
The detectives did not rush out and capture him. 
They did not even let him know of their presence. 
As quietly as they had followed him, so they did 
return. The secret council was again summoned. 
A message was sent to a noted conjurer of the tribe, 
famous for his deadly poisons. Two days after a 
big Indian lay dead in the birch wigwam of one of 
the Red River Indian families. The burial was very 
quick and quiet. Not much was said. Indians do 
not, on some subjects, talk much, but it was ob- 
served for long years after that no hunter ever 
complained of his traps being robbed.’’ 

‘T cannot see,” said Frank, “why any honest per- 
son could complain of any such laws as those. They 
were certain that he was guilty, and then they 
quickly punished him.” 

“Yes,” said Mr. Ross; “to some it may seem 
severe that he had to be killed, but the severity in 
this case crushed out the crime. None dare imitate 

him for fear of suffering his doom.” 

184 








A Winter Scene in the Great Lone Land» 


IN THE Great Lone Land 


CHAPTER XIV. 

Home Amusements and Studies — Happy Days at Sagasta- 
weekee — Stories of the Early Hunters — Methods of Hunting 
Before the Introduction of Firearms — Wolves More Dreaded 
Then — Story of Two of Kinesasis’s Children — Killed by 
Wolves— Shakoona’s Sorrow— Saved by the Caresses of Little 
Children. 

Sagasta-weekee was at all times a cozy, home- 
like place, but never did it seem more inviting and 
comfortable than when blizzard storms roared round 
it, or when fierce snowstorms seemed to make their 
mightiest efforts to see if they could not bury it in 
their enormous drifts of whitest snow. These ter- 
rific wintry gales sometimes made the house tremble 
on its foundations, and occasionally so shook the 
building that pictures hung on the wall would swing, 
and spoons in a tumbler on the mantelpiece would 
perceptibly jingle. But, in spite of the war of the 
elements outside, all was brightness and bliss within. 
There were endless resources of innocent amusement 
or work for all. A splendid, useful course of read- 
ings had been marked out for the boys, and Mr. 
Ross saw that this, as well as the books prescribed 
by their teachers at home, were faithfully read and 
studied. Then the rest of the time was devoted to 
recreation and work. A capital workshop, well sup- 
plied with tools, including a complete turning lathe, 
as well as fine saws for delicate fretwork, was al- 
ways open to them, and in it many a pleasant and 
useful hour was spent. 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

Frank excelled as the mechanical genius of the 
trio, and so generally to him was assigned the work 
of making any difficult repairs needed on the dog- 
sleds or harness, for it was a point of honor among 
the boys to keep their own outfits in perfect condi- 
tion themselves. 

Sam excelled, as might have been expected from 
his nationality, as a reader and reciter, and during 
the long evenings added much to the profit and 
diversion of the household. 

Alec had a sweet, well-cultivated voice for one so 
young, and particularly excelled in singing the sweet 
songs and ballads of old Scotland. Often amidst 
the hush of a still, quiet night, or even in the lulls 
between the roar of the blizzard or tempest, might 
have been heard the sweet notes of “Auld Lang 
Syne,” “Annie Laurie,” “Cornin’ Through the Rye,” 
“John Anderson, My Jo,” and many others that 
brought up happy memories of home, and touched 
for good all listening hearts. Another source of 
interest to the boys was for Mr. Ross to invite in 
some intelligent old Indian, like Memotas, Big Tom, 
Mustagan, Kinesasis, or Paulette, to tell some re- 
markable incident of his life, either as a hunter or 
traveler. Then, as there were living at the village 
not far away a number of Indians who had gone 
out with great Arctic adventurers or explorers, and 
had been gone for years, some of them had very 
remarkable stories to tell. 

As Kinesasis had had charge of the dogs during 
the summer, and was still much employed by Mr. 
Ross on various jobs about the place, the boys be- 

i86 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

came very well acquainted with him. He was a 
thorough Indian in his actions and modes of 
thought, and only saw things from his own stand- 
point. Pie was very observant, and had been quietly 
studying these three young ‘"palefaces,” whom his 
master, the Ookemou, Mr. Ross, had brought across 
the great sea. At first their active, demonstrative 
ways, so different from the quiet and taciturn man- 
ners of young Indians, tried him considerably. Yet 
he soon became accustomed to them. Then their 
grit and courage and perseverance under difficulties 
soon won his admiration. They had their mishaps, 
and, of course, in their endless sports and adventures 
they had to take their share of knocks, but under 
them all they were so good-natured and resourceful, 
as well as resolute and fearless, that the old Indian 
talked much about them among his own people, and 
said; “It was no wonder that the palefaces suc- 
ceeded, if all their boys were like these three.” But 
what completely made him their friend was Alec’s 
terrible adventure with the wolves, and his signal 
triumph over their instinct and cunning by his re- 
sourceful tact and splendid endurance. Poor Kine- 
sasis had reason to rejoice over every victory ob- 
tained over these fierce northern wolves. Some 
years before this they had during his absence broken 
into his wigwam and devoured two of his children. 
Some time later Mr. Ross told the story to the boys 
as he had heard it from Kinesasis himself. It was 
as follows: 

“It was long ago, before the white traders had 

sold many guns to the Indians. Then the game was 
187 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

very much more plentiful than it is now in the for- 
ests. The wild animals were then also very much 
tamer. The bows and arrows of the hunters made 
but little noise in comparison with the loud report 
of the gunpowder. The result was that the animals 
were much more easily approached.’’ 

“Is it true, then,” asked Sam, “that the young ani- 
mals now, that have not as yet heard the firing of a 
gun, are wilder than the young ones were before 
gunpowder came into use?” 

“Certainly,” replied Mr. Ross. “It is well known 
by those who have studied it that all wild animals, 
and even birds, very soon become wilder and more 
alert and watchful after the introduction of gun- 
powder, and, what is stranger, they seem to be able 
to impart to their progeny this same spirit of fear 
and caution.” 

“I have often wondered,” said Frank, “how it was 
that the Indians were able to kill sufficient game to 
keep themselves alive before they began to purchase 
gunpowder.” 

“What I have said in reply to Sam’s question 
partly answers yours,” answered Mr. Ross. “When 
a boy I often talked with old hunters who for 
many years hunted ere they fired a gun. They 
killed partridges with clubs, or with a noose on the 
end of a pole, as some of them can do yet, as has 
already been seen. Then they had no difficulty in 
crawling up to within a few feet of the deer or 
beavers.” 

“What about the more savage animals, such as 
the bears and wolves ?” asked Alec. 

i88 


IN THE Great Lone Land 


‘'As regards the bears, as the hides of the old fel- 
lows were hard to pierce with arrows sufficient to 
give a mortal wound, the Indians depended mostly 
on the hand-to-hand conflict with the knife or toma- 
hawk. With the wolves it was different. Before 
the guns were introduced the Indians dreaded the 
encounters with the wolves more than any other 
animals. It is true that they feared the fire as much 
then as now, but the Indians suffered from many 
disadvantages. Steel axes were but few, and very 
expensive. Now armed with guns, behind a good 
fire, hunters are comparatively safe. Then the 
wolves patiently waited until the limited wood sup- 
ply was exhausted, and then closed in for the final 
struggle. It was then teeth against tomahawks, and 
the chances were more in favor of the wolves than 
now. Solitary hunters or single families caught by 
a pack were frequently overpowered and devoured. 
Climbing up into the trees afforded a temporary 
respite, as wolves cannot, like bears, there follow 
their victims. But the wolves were persistent 
besiegers, and woe to the unfortunate hunter who 
was thus treed by them unless help was near. For 
days they would keep watch, day and night, until 
the unfortunate one, chilled and benumbed by the 
bitter cold, fell into their midst and was speedily 
devoured. In those days the wolves were much 
more numerous than they are now, and more cour- 
ageous in their attacks on the wigwams or even 
small settlements of the Indians. When distempers 
cut off the rabbits, or the deer were scarce, the 

wolves were very audacious in their attacks. 

189 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

‘Tt was one winter when the cold was terrible and 
the snow unusually deep that the sad tragedy came 
to the wigwam of Kinesasis. The reindeer had not 
come down from the barren plains as usual that win- 
ter, and the other animals generally hunted by the 
wolves were few and far between. Some of the 
Indian hunters had had some very narrow escapes, 
and the result was that very seldom did anyone ven- 
ture far alone into his hunting grounds. Kinesasis 
was always a man of great courage and strength. 
He laughed at the caution of the others, and boldly 
pushed on to his distant hunting grounds whenever 
he saw a prospect of success. His wigwam, in 
which he left Shakoona and the two little ones dur- 
ing his absence, was made as warm and comfortable 
as such a habitation can be. It was arranged with 
the best of birch bark, and around outside, up to 
within a few feet of the top, Kinesasis piled the dry 
moss of that country, which grows there so plenti- 
fully. He cut abundance of wood, and left plenty 
of frozen meat and fish on the high staging outside. 
The only drawback was that the wigwam was situ- 
ated on the outskirts of the village, close to the dark 
forest. Once a day, when the ice would be cut by 
the men of the village, Shakoona would take her 
buckets, made of the skin of the sturgeon, and go to 
the lake for her supply of water. It did not take her 
very long to make the trip, and she loitered not on 
the way, as she generally had to leave her two little 
ones alone. However, as the little girl was eight 
years of age and her brother only two years 

younger, the mother knew they were quite able to 
190 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

take care of themselves tinder ordinary circum- 
stances during her brief absence from them. 

“One day, however, when she returned she was 
horrified beyond all expression to find that a couple 
of great wolves had noiselessly crawled in from the 
forest and were greedily devouring her children. 
With a scream, but not with a faint, she threw one 
of the leather buckets of water on the smouldering 
fife which burned on the ground in the center of the 
wigwam. Then she instantly seized an ax, which 
fortunately was near the door by which she had 
entered. The clouds of steam which filled the wig- 
wam quite disconcerted the wolves. When she had 
entered they had at once begun to growl more 
savagely, and seemed as though they would spring 
at her. The clouds of hot steam at once stopped 
their snarling, as well as their tearing at the bodies 
of the children, and before they could do any further 
injury Shakoona with one blow cut through the 
backbone of one, severing the spinal cord, thus ren- 
dering him powerless to move. The other one 
sprang at her ere she could disengage the ax for 
another blow. The wolf’s object had been to catch 
her by the throat, but she had quickly thrown up her 
arm as a guard, and into it the cruel brute sank his 
great yellow fangs. 

“Shakoona was in a terrible position now, but her 
presence of mind did not desert her, and so she 
quickly backed around the fire in such a way that 
before the wolf realized his position his hind feet 
were in the still red-hot embers of the fire. With a 
howl of pain he let go his grip on her arm and made 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

for the door, which was of mooseskin, and which 
like a curtain had dropped back into place. 

“In the meantime Shakoona’s screams had been 
heard, and Indians from other wigwams speedily 
rushed to her help. Idttle did they realize, as they 
were coming, her sad bereavement. The first one to 
attempt to enter was an Indian woman. Just as she 
was entering the wolf with scorched feet was rush- 
ing out. The collision, as they met, knocked the 
woman over, and so delayed the wolf for a second or 
two that the next comer, who happened to be a stal- 
wart hunter, was able to draw his tomahawk, and 
with one strong blow drove the keen edge of his 
weapon into the animal’s brain. When these two 
Indians and others who had quickly joined them 
had entered the wigwam they saw a terrible sight — 
two children half devoured and a mother so over- 
whelmed with sorrow that not a tear would come 
from those great sad eyes. Then there was the wolf 
with severed spine, but still alive and looking more 
fiendish than ever. Very soon was the savage brute 
dispatched and his body thrown out of the wigwam. 

“Loving hands quickly arranged and covered up 
what was left of the two children, and efforts were 
made to comfort the poor mother in her terrible sor- 
row. Swift runners were sent away to Kinesasis, 
to tell him of his great loss and to bring him home, 
as many feared if his wife did not soon begin to 
weep she would die. When Kinesasis heard the 
news he too was nearly heart-broken, but when he 
reached his wigwam and beheld Shakoona he 

crushed down his own sorrow to try and comfort 
192 


i i]^ THE Great Lone Land 

her who hadj on account of the way the great be- 
reavement ^had come to her, suffered much more 
than he. For days and days Shakoona was as one 
in a dream. She was gentle as usual, but those great 
eyes, so sad and dry, seemed to haunt all who visited 
her. All said she soon would die unless she got re- 
lief. They tried many ways, but all in vain, until at 
length a kindly Indian woman went out and brought 
in the boys and girls with whom her little ones used 
to play. At first Shakoona seemed pained by their 
presence, but as they looked into those sad eyes they 
began weeping, and, childlike, they threw their arms 
around her and wept. Passively at first she received 
these fondlings, but soon the children’s caresses 
broke down the barriers and the hot tears began to 
flow, and the woman was saved from death or in- 
sanity. But her hair turned white shortly afterward, 
and she has ever since been that sad little woman 
that you have seen her. Kinesasis has never been 
cruel to her, as, alas ! too many of the pagan Indian 
husbands are to their wives.” 

13 '93 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 


CHAPTER XV. 

The Beavers, and Something About Them — Two Hunters at 
Sagasta-weekee — A General Invitation to a Beaver Hunt Ac- 
cepted — The Preparations — The Trip — Dog-traveling in the 
Woods — Saucy Wild Animals — The Wolfs Cove — The Boys’ 
Plunge in the Snowdrift — The Rescue. 

The beaver is a very interesting animal. In the 
previous summer the boys had been fortunate 
enough to see a colony of beavers at work during 
a beautiful moonlight night. They had also sub- 
sequently examined the wonderful dam these in- 
dustrious, ingenious creatures had made, and were 
much amazed and surprised not only at its size, but 
also at the clever way in which every part of it was 
constructed to meet any emergency that might occur 
by flood or freshet. 

They also noticed that the Indians did very little 
hunting of the beaver, or, indeed, of any of the rich 
fur-bearing animals during the summer months. 
Now, however, that the winter had come they were 
all alert and active, and as soon as their fall fisheries 
were completed they began making preparations for 
the winter harvest of furs. On their success in a 
great measure depended the happiness and comfort 
of themselves and their families. They lived too 
far north to cultivate the land with any degree of 
success, and hence it was only by the sale of their 
furs that they were able to buy the essential neces- 
saries for their simple lives. 

The fur is only considered prime in the winter 
194 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

months. That killed in summer is thin and poor, 
and for it the hunters receive but a low price. But 
when the cold weather sets in the fur becomes thick 
and valuable. Then the hunters leave their homes 
and go to the distant hunting grounds, often hun- 
dreds of miles away. Many are their hardships and 
privations. They take but little food with them, and 
so have to depend on what they can hunt or shoot. 
In some regions where the fur-bearing animals are 
fairly numerous those that are good for food are 
very few. The result sometimes is that Indians 
doing well in getting the rich furs of the black and 
silver foxes, otters, minks, and martens, and some 
other fur-bearing animals, are nearly starving most 
of the time. On the other hand, those who succeed 
in capturing abundance of beavers, wil’d cats, musk- 
rats, and bears, live very well, as all of these animals 
are eaten by the natives, although their furs do not 
bring as high a price as the others. 

The discovery of a large beaver house is a great 
piece of good luck to an Indian hunter. Sometimes, 
when the house is a small one, a hunter will with his 
ax only put his mark of ownership on a tree near by, 
then leave it undisturbed. Scores of hunters may 
happen to come along, but when they see that mark 
they never think of trying to get those beavers. It 
may be that the owner will mark it the second year, 
and again leave it for the beaver to multiply the 
third time. Each year the beavers are undisturbed 
they take down and enlarge their house, until, if 
thus left for years, and the dam keeps good and the 
water supply sufficient, they will continue extend- 
195 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

ing their habitation until it is as large as a good-sized 
haystack. 

There came one day to Sagasta-weekee, on a visit, 
a couple of clever Indian hunters who were great 
friends of Mr. Ross. Among other things they told 
him was that two nights away they had a large 
beaver house which they had preserved for three 
years, and that they were soon going to take out the 
beavers. This was just the news Mr. Ross wanted 
to hear, as he had often talked with the boys about 
these wonderful animals, and was anxious that they 
should see how the cleverness of the hunters out- 
matched all the skill and sagacity of the beavers. 

Then, as it was about a hundred miles away, it 
would be a capital winter’s trip and give them some 
idea of the Indian hunter’s life. They would have 
to camp out in the wintry forest, and would thus 
find the difference between sleeping in the summer, 
with the temperature up to eighty, and sleeping in 
the wintry cold, with the spirit thermometer perhaps 
indicating fifty below zero. 

When the boys heard of the promised trip they 
were wild with excitement. As much preparation 
had to be made, the day selected to start was about 
a week after the visit of the two Indians. It was 
indeed a busy week. Each of the three boys was to 
take his dog-train. They would be expected to take 
on their own sleds their beds, clothing, and part of 
the supplies. Snowshoes were made for them, and 
every day they diligently practiced this new method 
of locomotion. They had many amusing tumbles. 

Sometimes, where the snowdrifts were deep, when 
196 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

they attempted to pass over they somehow or other 
would get the snowshoes so tangled up that over 
they would go on their heads. The more they 
struggled the deeper they sank in the light, fleecy 
snow, until it seemed as though nothing was visible 
but a pair of snowshoes wildly wabbling about. 
Then the experienced Indian who always accom- 
panied them would come to the rescue. Gliding up 
gracefully on his own snowshoes to the struggling 
lad, he would reach down and, seizing him under the 
arms, would quickly lift him up and once more place 
him on his feet amidst the laughter of the others. 
Thus they practiced and fell, tried again and again, 
until the knack was accomplished and they could get 
along very nicely. 

In the meantime diligent preparations were being 
made indoors for this excursion to the home of 
the beavers. Abundance of fat food was cooked. 
Dogshoes were manufactured, as well as large 
moccasins for the travelers. 

In due time the start was made. It was to the 
boys a most unique and novel affair. First ran the 
guide, a stalwart Indian, who could easily keep 
ahead of the fastest train. It is the duty of the 
guide, by running on in front, to indicate the best 
route. He must never make a track where it is not 
safe for the dogs with the heavy sleds to follow. If 
he finds a great fallen tree in the way it is his duty, 
not to jump over the trunk and push on, but to circle 
around it where the party following can easily ad- 
vance. In rocky places he must ever have in mind 

the loaded sleds following, and walk or run where 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

there is an available trail. He must never go be- 
tween two trees growing so closely together that 
there will be any difficulty for the widest sled fol- 
lowing to pass between them. He is supposed to 
know the strength or weakness of the weakest train 
or runner, and so must decide on each resting as well 
as camping place. In his footsteps all are to im- 
plicitly follow, and so his position is one of great 
responsibility. As a natural result, he is supposed 
to receive much higher pay than the ordinary dog- 
driver, who has not much care beyond that of his 
own dog-train. 

This being the first trip made in this direction this 
season, there was not the least vestige of a road or 
trail. Tornado blasts had swept through the forests 
which abounded most of the way. The result was 
that fallen trees were very numerous. Some of them 
were so tangled together that it was at times easier 
to cut through than make the long detour to get 
around them. Knowing this, the guide carried with 
him an ax instead of a gun. 

An old, experienced, powerful train of dogs went 
first. The sagacious leader never swerved from the 
tracks of the guide. No matter how winding or dif- 
ficult the trail, he never wandered from it. Some- 
times he could see the guide straight ahead, while 
the path seemed to veer at right angles. While the 
sight of the guide ahead might stimulate him to 
greater effort and speed, still he knew his duty was 
to keep in the well-defined track. A straight cut to 
the guide might run him into a dangerous gully or 

over a steep precipice. So, knowing his duty, per- 
198 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

haps taught it by bitter experience — and dogs have 
good memories — he tried his best in his doglike way 
to do his duty. 

Mr. Ross’s train followed next. They were jet- 
black in color, and were large, magnificent dogs. 
They were so trained that they as readily responded 
to his calls as a good horse does to the pulling of the 
reins. 

Then following came the boys with their three 
trains. Frank, having the largest dogs, had the 
lead. Sam came next, and then Alec with the light- 
est but by far the fleetest train in the whole party. 
Behind was another sled of Mr. Ross’s with more 
supplies, and then, bringing up the rear, was a sled 
belonging to the two Indians who owned the beaver 
house. While one of them drove the train the other, 
on account of the many fallen trees in the way that 
had to be cut out, was on ahead with Memotas, the 
guide. 

As they thus set off they made quite a display. 
The boys were simply wild with the excitement of 
the hour. They looked very picturesque in their 
handsome outfits. Their deerskin suits, over the 
warmest of flannel underclothing, were very beauti- 
ful, as they were made under Mrs. Ross’s direction 
by the most clever Indian women. They were beau- 
tifully adorned with bead and silkwork and trimmed 
with fur. Their overcoats, as before stated, were 
made of the heavy white blankets of the Hudson 
Bay Company. These blankets are very warm and 
firm, as they are especially made for that cold coun- 
try. The caps and mittens were of the finest fur. 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

Their moccasins were extra large, to allow for the 
additional wrapping of duffel required over the 
warm woolen hose. They also had warm leggings 
of Strouds, beautifully fringed and fastened with 
strong garters artistically worked with porcupine 
quills. A warm, well-lined hood or capote was at- 
tached to each overcoat. This the boys found of 
very great service and comfort, especially when their 
unexperienced sleigh dogs were unable to keep the 
heads of their sleds, at times, from striking against 
some snow-laden tree with such force that the snow 
in great quantities came tumbling about them. But 
for these capotes much of the snow would have 
found its way into their faces and down under the 
collars of their coats. 

To be like the rest of the party, the lads were each 
the possessor of a fine dog-whip. Of course, they 
were not so long and heavy as those ordinarily used, 
but they could when well handled make a pistollike 
crack, and for this purpose only were they used. 

The first few miles of the route were on the ice 
over places well known to all, as in their frequent 
outings they had gone in this direction. It was well 
known to Alec, for it was along this very way that 
he had skated so rapidly after leaving the river, with 
the howling wolves behind him. 

On and on they pushed to the extreme end of the 
lake, for they wished to avail themselves of as much 
of the ice route as possible, as it is so much easier 
traveling on the ice than in the forest, where there 
is no trail. 

When the sleds reached the spot where they were 
200 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

to enter the forest they found that the guide and his 
Indian comrade had cut down some dry trees and 
made up a splendid fire. No sooner had the trains 
arrived than some of the sleds were hastily untied, 
the deerskin wrappings which were on all were 
opened, and a couple of large kettles were speedily 
filled with the clear, light snow and placed on the 
roaring fire. So light and feathery is the snow that 
the kettles have to be filled and refilled a good many 
times ere sufficient is put in to make them full of 
water. Then the provision bags were opened, and 
abundance of food was taken out for all. 

One of the Indians who was skillful at this kind 
of work was detailed as special cook and general 
waiter for Mr. Ross and the boys. Very quickly he 
had ready the dinner of the good things Mrs. Ross 
had prepared for them. The boys were surprised 
at the quantity of the fat food that was placed before 
them, and were almost ashamed of the vigor and 
capacity of their appetites. Nature, true to her in- 
stincts, puts in the craving for the kind of food most 
essential for people in different parts of the world. 

About an hour was allowed for the dinner halt, 
and then the journey was resumed. There were the 
usual mishaps that necessarily belonged to this mode 
of travel. Sleds were occasionally upset, and if at 
the time anyone happened to be riding he was buried 
in the snow, from which he emerged none the worse 
for the plunge, but generally amidst the laughter 
of those more fortunate. Several times a fox or 
some other animal ran across the trail, and then it 

required some effort and sternness to control the 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

dogs and prevent them from starting off after these 
animals, which are their natural foes. The older 
dogs had learned somewhat by experience the folly 
of trying while thus harnessed to heavy sleds to 
capture wild foxes, and so merely confined their 
efforts to loud barkings and a little more vigorous 
tugging at their traces. The younger and less dis- 
ciplined trains, however, with less discretion and 
more zeal, at once dashed away from the beaten 
trail made by the trains ahead of them, and reck- 
lessly plunged into the forest after the game. 

'‘Who would imagine,” said Frank, "that dogs so 
heavily loaded could thus fairly fly over the snow- 
covered logs and rocks and among the trees at such 
a rate?” 

They learned then, and in many an experience 
afterward, of the latent strength there is in an ap- 
parently wearied dog. Only give him the stimulus 
to develop it, and it is simply surprising to all who 
witness it. 

Alec’s fleet train was the most excited and intract- 
able. Bruce could not stand the sight of a saucy 
fox or a snarling wild cat passing across the trail, 
only a few hundred feet ahead of him, with any 
degree of equanimity. After him he must and would 
go, in .spite of Alec’s hardest efforts to keep him in 
the trail. Bruce, with the other three dogs, about as 
eager as himself, would often leave the track and 
with a spurt get off several hundred yards in the 
woods before he could be stopped. Sometimes 
their stopping would be rather abrupt. Generally 

the trees were so close together that it was not long 
202 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

ere the head of the sled came in violent collision with 
a great one. This, of course, stopped them most 
effectually. At other times, while Bruce, the leader, 
decided to take one side of a small tree, the dog 
next to him took the other side. This divergency of 
views on the part of the dogs also quickly put an end 
to their advance. 

Alec, in his determined efforts to arrest their 
progress at these times, did not always escape un- 
scathed. When in a bad forest where the snow was 
deep he often would stumble and fall, and before he 
could regain his feet had acted the part of a snow- 
plow as he was rapidly dragged along. He received 
some painful bruises, but he pluckily kept to his 
work, and so had his dogs in fairly good submission 
before many such trips were made. 

A laughable but fortunately not dangerous ad- 
venture happened to the boys and their trains at a 
place called by the Indians the Wolf’s Cove, on ac- 
count of the many wolves that formerly infested the 
place. There it was necessary to cross a very deep 
valley, or ravine. The hillsides were very steep and 
slippery under the heavy snowfall. As the dog- 
sleds have no brakes upon them, the only way of 
arresting their speedy motion when going down a 
steep hill is for the driver to hold back the sled by 
the strong rope which is always attached to the rear 
end and is tailed the tail rope. 

If the hill is steep or slippery, and the load heavy, 
this is a difficult operation and requires much care. 
Owing to the way in which the dogs are attached 

to the vsleds, the drivers are utterly powerless to ren- 
203 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

der any assistance in arresting the progress of the 
sled. 

When the sleds reached the ravine there was a 
short halt ere the first descent was made. 

The old, experienced Indian drivers were of the 
opinion that the boys were not strong or heavy 
enough on their moccasined feet to hold back their 
sleds, and suggested that, after they themselves had 
gone down with the loads, they return and take 
charge of the trains of the boys. This help, kindly 
offered, was rejected by the lads, who, having man- 
aged fairly well thus far, except where the passing 
game bothered them, were anxious to try this new 
experiment. 

Mr. Ross at first was also a little dubious about it, 
but youthful enthusiasm and love of new adventures 
conquered. While the first sleds were descending 
the boys and the rest of the party not immediately 
occupied watched the operation with a good deal of 
interest. 

^‘Faith,” said Sam, “it’s as easy as sliding down 
the banisters.” 

“The hill seems greased for the occasion,” said 
Frank, as he noticed the ease and rapidity with 
which the sleds slid down in spite of the grip and 
strong holdback of the heavy, experienced Indian 
drivers. 

“Plenty of snow to tumble into,” said* Alec, who 
could not forget the way he had plowed through it 
when his dogs ran away with him as they attempted 
to catch the wild cat. 

Fortunately or unfortunately for the boys, there 
204 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

had been a good deal of wind in this part of the 
country since the last snowfall, and so now there 
was a large drift of perhaps twenty feet that had 
been blown into the bottom of the first steep hill. 
The guides with some help had in the route through 
this deep snow gone backward and forward a few 
times on their heavy snowshoes, and had packed 
down a trail sufficiently hard for the dogs and sleds. 
All the heavy sleds with their drivers went on ahead 
of the boys. Thus they, coming last, had the ad- 
vantage of the packing of the snow. 

Sam, jolly and reckless, was the first of the boys 
to make the descent, while the others followed 
closely behind, Frank being next to him, and Alec 
bringing up the rear. 

For a time Sam succeeded very well in imitating 
the experienced drivers. He kept his feet well and 
firmly planted on the snowy surface, and held back 
his sled in fine style. The other boys also succeeded 
in starting well on the trail. They had not gone 
very far, however, before a small gray wolf, that 
had been hidden in one of the denlike recesses in the 
rocks, now thoroughly alarmed by the dingling of 
so many bells and the sounds of so many voices, sud- 
denly sprang from his retreat, which was in the 
cliffs on the other side beyond the guide. Plunging 
into the deep snow, he made the most desperate 
efforts to escape by retreating up the distant hill- 
side in front of the whole party. Fierce fires had 
raged through these woods a year so so before, 
nearly destroying the whole of the timber. The 

result was that the country was now here quite open, 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

and objects as large as a wolf could be seen for 
a long distance. From their higher position the 
boys and their dogs could much more distinctly see 
the wolf on the opposite hillside than could the rest 
of the party, who, having safely made the descent, 
were now on the beginning of the rise on the other 
side, awaiting the coming of the boys. They did 
not have long to wait. The sight of that wolf, so 
clearly seen in the bright sunshine of that wintry 
day on the snowy hillside, was too much for their 
brief discipline. Spitfire could not stand it. With a 
howl he was off, and well seconded were his efforts 
by the dogs he was leading. Sam was instantly 
jerked off his feet, but he pluckily held on to the 
tail rope of his sled. Well was it for him that his 
pants were made of mooseskin, for they had a good 
testing of their qualities now, as rapidly on them he 
was now tobogganing down that steep, slippery 
hillside. 

Behind him came the other dog-trains. Of them 
the boys had also lost control. Such was the steep- 
ness of the hill that soon the momentum obtained by 
the sleds caused them to go faster than the dogs 
could run. Here was the real danger. When Frank 
and Alec saw how it was faring with Sam, and were 
also quick to observe that with that wolf so plainly 
visible it would be utterly impossible for them on a 
downhill, slippery grade to control their now ex- 
cited dogs, they, boylike, took the risks, and at once 
threw themselves upon their sleds and hung on to 
the deerskin thongs with which the loads were 
securely tied. 


206 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

‘'Hurrah for somewhere!” shouted Alec. 

"Clear the track!” was Frank’s hurried shout to 
Sam, whom he saw still in the trail, down which he 
was now furiously coming. 

The guide, on his snowshoes, in tramping out the 
trail had near the bottom made a little turn to the 
left in order to escape the deepest snowdrift which 
the wind had there piled up. The foremost trains, 
with their powerful, experienced drivers, had been 
able to make this detour all right, and now had 
stopped only a little way ahead. 

By the time the trains of the boys had reached 
this part of the descent they were in a most thor- 
oughly mixed-up condition. Boys, dogs, and sleds 
were literally so tangled up that they were to the 
rest of the party an indistinguishable mass as down 
they came, and at the bend in the road, instead of 
being able to turn, they all flew into the heavy drift 
of snow which was straight before them, and almost 
disappeared. There was quick work for the on- 
lookers now to do. At first they had been almost 
convulsed with laughter, as they saw the mixed-up 
assortment coming down in such a way. Then, 
when the whole flew by and buried itself so thor- 
oughly in the deep drift of light, fleecy snow, there 
was instantly a good deal of anxiety for the boys. 

As they began the work of rescue the sight before 
them was unique. There is a hand working des- 
perately, and here is a foot waving in the air. There 
is a dog’s head emerging as the animal makes a des- 
perate struggle to get out, and there is the curly tail 

of another coming into view. Only such a land 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

could show such a sight. Alec, the last to plunge 
in, was the first rescued, although he had been com- 
pletely buried out of sight, as had been the others. 
Frank was the next pulled out, feet foremost. Sam 
was the last rescued. His tobogganing slide had 
been abruptly ended by his being entangled in the 
harness of Frank’s train coming on behind him. 
Then it seemed to him as though the head of the on- 
coming sled, like the cowcatcher on an engine, had 
picked him and the dogs up, and in an instant more, 
he said, he was sent flying as from a catapult into 
the drift, the instant the sled left the track. So far 
ahead was he thus shot that the sleds stopped before 
they reached him, and so, although he was deeply 
buried, he Avas not run over. 

Not one of the boys had a scratch or a bruise. 
The only discomfort was that, in spite of big mittens 
and capotes, so much snow had found its way where 
it was, to say the least, not very welcome. But it 
was light and feathery, and was soon dusted off or 
shaken out, and then the work was to get out and 
disentangle the dogs. This was no easy matter. 
Some of them, in the wild rush down the hill, when 
struck by the sleds had rolled over and over in such 
a way that their traces looked more like ropes than 
anything else. Others of them were now in such 
uncomfortable positions that they were howling 
most piteously for help, while others that had hap- 
pened to be thrown together, and perhaps each 
thinking that the others were to blame for this mix- 
up, were as vigorously fighting as their entangle- 
ment in their harnesses and sleds would allow. 

208 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

After the rescue of the lads the Indians unfas- 
tened one of their most powerful dog-trains from one 
of the other sleds and hitched it to the rear of these 
buried ones, from which they had, with the snow- 
shoes as shovels, so thrown the snow that they could 
be reached. With a good, deal of effort and a great 
deal of fun they were pulled out one by one. The 
dogs of each train were naturally indignant at thus 
being unceremoniously dragged backward. As each 
sled and train were thus hauled out and straightened 
in the trail, and the harness untangled, the amount 
of damage could be ascertained. With the exception 
of a few loose articles that were buried somewhere 
in the drift there was no loss. It is true that some 
of the dogs seemed a little sore and stiff for a few 
days, but beyond that there was nothing serious. 
Snow is a capital substance in which to tumble if 
there is plenty of it. 

This adventure, which was often talked about and 
caused many a hearty laugh, delayed the party about 
a couple of hours. As the hill up which they were 
now to go was about as steep as the one down which 
they had so quickly come, it was decided to fasten 
two trains of dogs to each sled. This, while making 
the work easier on the dogs, caused considerable de- 
lay. The result was that when the whole party had 
reached the top Memotas decided that it would be 
best there to camp. 

14 


209 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 


CHAPTER XVI. 

Still on the Way to the Beaver House — The Winter Camp in 
the Woods — Work for All — Feeding the Dogs — Our Boys 
Guarding Their Own Trains — The Evening Meal — Bitter Cold 
— Milk in Lumps of Ice — Evening Prayers — The Wintry Camp 
Bed — Tucked In — Mysterious Sounds in the Forest — Smother- 
ing Sensations — Sam’s Nightmare — Breakfast — Tricky Dogs— 
Methods of Capture — Carioles and Sleds Reloaded — Trains 
Harnessed — Journey Resumed. 

A WINTER camp in the North Land, and the tem- 
perature anywhere from thirty to sixty below zero ! 

Cold? Yes, we think so, and so did Frank, Alec, 
and Sam, as now they were passing through their 
first experience. 

As was stated in our last chapter, to the guide was 
always assigned the responsibility of selecting the 
camping place. The place here chosen by Memotas 
was considered a very good one. First, because 
there was abundance of dead, dry trees to serve as 
fuel. These had been killed a year or so before by 
a great forest fire that had run through that region 
of country. Second, there was a fine, dense balsam 
grove that had escaped the fire. In one part of it 
there was sufficient space for the camp. Then, in 
addition, by cutting down some of the smaller of 
these evergreen trees, their branches, finely broken 
up, would help to make the bed more comfortable. 

These are the essentials for a good camp : plenty 
of fuel and a sheltered spot. It is not always easy 

to find good camping places, so the guide is gener- 
210 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

ally on the lookout for such localities. The result is 
his quick eye and good memory generally enable 
him to select all the camps that will be required on 
a return journey. 

When all the sleds were at the spot selected the 
first thing done was to unharness the dogs, the faith- 
ful animals that had so well done their work. It 
seemed at first strange to the boys that the dogs 
could be treated so differently from what horses 
would have been when the day’s work was done. 
Indeed, everything was novel and startling. 

A day’s journey was ended, and they were about 
to take a night’s rest. But how different from trav- 
eling elsewhere. Here was no pleasant hotel or 
country tavern in which they could find lodgings. 
Here were no hospitable settlers to invite these 
strangers in to be their guests. They were prepar- 
ing to stop out here in the woods all night, where 
there was neither hotel nor private dwelling place 
nearer than the home they had left now so many 
miles behind. 

No wonder Sam said, as he pulled a piece of ice 
as big as a pepper caster off the fur edge of his cap, 
that had there formed from his breath : 

“This beats all the lodging houses I ever heard of. 
Faith, and where is the landlord?” 

Alec’s practical reply was: “Well, there will be 
no bill to pay in the morning, anyway.” 

“Pay or no pay,” said Sam, “I would like to 
know where we are going to sleep in such a place as 
this?” 

“And where are we going to eat?” said Frank. 

2II 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

“Wait a little while,” said Mr. Ross, “and you 
will see a change that will astonish you. In the 
meantime each of you take an ax and see which of 
you can first cut down one of those trees. The ex- 
ercise will do you good, and then remember,” he 
said with a laugh, “we have no deadheads on this 
trip.” 

Eagerly the boys rushed off to the sleds for their 
axes, and, putting on their snowshoes — for the snow 
was too deep for comfortable work without them — 
they were soon busily engaged at what was Glad- 
stone’s favorite exercise. In the meantime the men 
were hard at work in preparing the camp. The 
snow was between three and four feet deep at the 
place selected. Using their snowshoes as shovels, 
they vigorously attacked the snow and threw it up 
on two sides and in the rear, making a snow wall 
about five feet high on three sides. The two oppo- 
site walls were about twelve feet apart, while the 
rear wall was perhaps ten feet back from the front 
space where the snow was cleared away. Here a 
great log heap was soon piled up. Dry splinters and 
chips were placed under, and an Indian with his 
flint and steel soon had it ignited. In a little while 
a glorious fire was blazing, lighting up the whole 
surroundings. The sun had gone down in splendor 
and the stars one by one had quickly come out, and 
now the whole heavens were aglow with them. On 
the space between the snowbanks a heavy layer of 
the green balsam boughs were evenly spread. On 
these the robes and blankets from each sled were 

arranged by busy hands, while others attended to 
212 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

various other duties. Some took large kettles and 
filled and refilled them up with snow, and kept them 
on the blazing fire until they were nearly full of 
water. Meat was cooked in some, while tea was 
made in others. 

The dog-drivers looked after their own dogs. 
From the sleds sufficient fish were taken to give to 
each dog two good whitefish. These were the daily 
rations of the dogs. The invariable rule is when 
traveling to give them but one meal a day, and that 
is given at the evening camp. So severe is the frost 
that these fish are frozen as hard as rocks, and so the 
drivers have to knock them ofif the sticks where in 
tens they were strung when caught. Then they are 
placed against a log that is rolled as near to the fire as 
it can be without burning. Against this log the fish 
are stood up next to the fire, and well thawed out, 
ere they are given to the dogs. Getting but one meal 
a day, they are naturally very eager for it, and so it 
is no wonder if some of them get up an occasional 
quarrel. Neither is it surprising if some of the 
stronger and more greedy strive to steal some por- 
tion of the supper from those not so active or quick 
in eating as themselves. One of the best times to 
study dog nature is when they are being fed. 

The boys, having each cut down a good, large 
tree, hugely enjoyed the feeding of the tha wed-out 
fish to their own dogs. They were greatly amused 
at the efforts of the greedy ones to rob others. They 
had their whips in hand, and while they each took 
good care not to strike his own dogs, they rather en- 
joyed giving a crack to some cunning old rascals 
213 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

from some of the older trains, that having in all 
probability imposed on the youngsters all summer 
imagined they could with impunity keep it up here. 

“You would, would you, you thieving beast!” said 
Sam, as with hearty good will he brought his whip 
vigorously down on a powerful old dog that was 
making: a cunning attempt to rob Spitfire of about 
half a fish. 

With a howl of rage the baffled fellow quickly 
sprang back into the gloom. 

Frank and Alec also had to be equally alert, to see 
that their dogs were not robbed by others. 

Mr. Ross and the Indians were much amused and 
pleased to see the zeal and promptness with which 
the boys guarded the rights of their trains. They 
said that this was always the way with old dogs; 
that they would try most persistently for a few 
nights, in the beginning of winter, to rob the 
younger animals. A few good thrashings generally 
cured them of it; and sometimes, to the surprise of 
some of these old fellows, a youngster would de- 
velop such spirit and strength that he would turn 
on the would-be robber and give him a thrashing 
himself. Then there would be no trouble from that 
old fellow afterward. 

“I wonder where the dogs will sleep,” said Frank. 

“Wait a little while and you will see,” was the 
reply from Memotas, the guide. 

Sure enough, it was evident that they knew 
how to look out for themselves. The older ones, 
after being certain that all the fish had been dis- 
tributed, would lift up their heads and sniff the 
214 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

breeze. No matter how slight it was they could 
easily detect it. Then they would travel about the 
camp in the snow until they found a sheltered spot, 
free from the wind. Here they would turn round 
and round until they had made a hole in the snow, 
away down near the ground. Then down in it they 
would curl themselves into as small a bundle as pos- 
sible, with their tails over their noses, and there they 
would shiver or sleep through the night, as tlie cold 
would permit. 

The younger dogs seemed at first very uncertain 
as to their movements. Some of them followed the 
actions of the old dogs, but others that had but little 
of the Eskimo blood in them clung to the fire and the 
company of their masters. For these Mr. Ross had 
a driver bring from one of the sleds two or three 
extra buffalo skins, which he thoughtfully had 
brought along. These were spread out near the fire, 
at a spot from which the snow was partially cleared. 

'‘Now tell your dogs to sleep there,” said Mr. 
Ross. 

The boys quickly did so, and it was not long be- 
fore those that had not gone off and dug nests in the 
snow for themselves were closely cuddled together 
on the comfortable robes. 

In the meantime supper was being prepared by 
others. Meat and fish in generous quantities were 
cooked in the kettles. Bread and flat cakes, well 
supplied with grease or fat, were being thawed 
out, and a large quantity of good black tea was 
prepared. 

A large deerskin robe was carefully spread out 
215 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

before the fire, and over this a plain tablecloth was 
laid. Then the dishes, which were all indestructible, 
were placed in position, and the fat meat, strong tea, 
and hot rolls or buns were vigorously attacked by 
Mr. Ross and the boys. While they were thus en- 
joying their meal the rest of the party, not far off, 
were similarly engaged. 

There were several things about this camping out 
in the woods that much surprised the boys. One 
was that the numerous sparks from the fire had such 
long fiery tails. Another was that the frost so 
quickly froze up the large pieces of meat, that often 
had to be thawed out two or three times at each 
meal. Another was that the ice often formed on 
their cups of tea, which had been taken boiling hot 
out of the kettle only a few minutes before. Then 
they were startled by sharp reports, like pistol or 
musket shots, that they kept hearing from places in 
the dark forest all around them, as though some 
lurking savages were taking snap shots at them. 
Two especially were so near and so real that Sam 
jumped up so suddenly that he spilled his tea over 
the tablecloth. 

*‘Faith, indeed,” he exclaimed, ‘T don’t want to 
be potted out here by any wild huntsmen, or North- 
ern desperado, or red Indian.” 

The other boys were also much startled, but Mr. 
Ross quieted their fears by telling them that these 
sounds were caused by the bursting in the trees, as 
the result of the freezing sap. Water in freezing 
always expands, and as there is sufficient sap in some 

trees, when it freezes, it bursts them. It must ex- 
216 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

panel, and tremendous is its power, as even the burst 
rocks will show. 

^’It is a good thing that the ice remains on the top 
of the water,” said Frank. ‘‘As it freezes it ex- 
pands, and thus, being lighter than the water, it 
comes to the top.” 

“What a mess we would be in,” said Sam, “if as 
the ice froze in chunks it sank to the bottom and 
kept at it all winter. Sure then, before spring, in 
.such a land as this, the lakes and rivers would all be 
one solid mass of ice, and then what would become 
of the fish and us?” 

“A sensible remark, Sam, and characteristically 
put,” said Mr. Ross. “If the ice were heavier than 
the water, and continued sinking, the colder regions 
would continually be encroaching on the warmer, 
to such a degree that in time the earth’s habitable 
portions would be very much diminished.” 

“Why is it,” said Alec, “that the milk which we 
are carrying in chunks, wrapped up in paper bags, 
when put into our cups of tea, does not melt as soon 
as do the lumps of white sugar of the same size?” 

“Closely examine a lump of frozen milk, and also 
a lump of sugar, and you will easily see the reason,” 
said Mr. Ross. “When milk is firmly frozen it is 
very solid indeed — so solid that even hot water can 
only melt it on its surface. With a lump of sugar it 
is very different, as on account of its porousness the 
water at once forces its way through it, and thus is 
able to quickly dissolve it.” 

Thus in pleasant chat the hour passed away in 

spite of the bitter cold. They were all securely 
217 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

wrapped up, only portions of their faces being visi- 
ble. They regretted that they could not handle their 
knives and forks with their heavy mittens on their 
hands, but were obliged to exchange them for well- 
lined gloves while they ate. After all had eaten their 
hearty supper, and were now gathered near the fire, 
one of the Indians, who, like the rest of his country- 
men in this party, was an earnest, devout Christian, 
struck up in a strong, melodious voice the Evening 
Hymn, translated into his own language. 

Quickly the others joined in, while Mr. Ross and 
the boys sang in unison the English words. After 
the hymn was sung, and ended up with Ken’s beau- 
tiful doxology, “Praise God from whom all bless- 
ings flow,” another Indian devoutly prayed in his 
own language, after which the service ended by all 
repeating together the Lord’s Prayer in English. 

The boys were very much pleased and delighted 
with this evening service of praise and prayer. 
Their weird surroundings added to its impressive- 
ness. Then the fact that they were out in the cold 
forest, with no roof above them but the starry heav- 
ens and no walls around- them but snowbanks, and 
the temperature so many degrees below zero, made 
the petition in the beautiful hymn sung very 
appropriate : 

Keep me, O keep me, King of kings. 

Beneath thine own almighty wings! 

After prayers the men made a thorough examina- 
tion of the sleds and harness, to see that everything 

was in good condition, as they intended, if all was 
218 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

well, to start on the journey long hours before 
daylight. 

Then the beds were made. This operation very 
much interested the boys. The first thing the In- 
dians did was to put everybody out of the camp; 
then they scattered fresh green balsam boughs, finely 
broken up, over the whole spot, from which the 
snow had nearly all been cleared. Then, on the side 
where Mr. Ross and the boys were to sleep, the 
Indian bedmakers first spread out a deerskin wrap- 
per, which during the day was used to hold all the 
various articles constituting a sleigh load, the whole 
then being securely lashed on by deerskin straps. 
It was made by sewing several large, well-dressed 
deerskins together. This large wrapper being made 
smooth and even, there was next spread out on it a 
couple of splendid buffalo skins. Then on the top of 
these the warm, thick blankets known as four-point 
Hudson Bay Company’s blankets were placed. 

While the bed was being thus prepared Mr. Ross 
and the three boys were busily employed in prepar- 
ing themselves to occupy it. It can be readily under- 
stood that there was no such thing as ‘"undressing” 
for bed in such a cold bedroom. 

“Unloose your collars and shirt bands,” was all 
the directions given, as far as disrobing was 
concerned. 

The heavy traveling moccasins used during the 
day were exchanged either for long fur boots that 
came up to the hips, or for much larger and softer 
moccasins than those used during the day. 

It generally added to the comfort if a few of the 
219 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

tightest buttons on some of the inner garments were 
unloosed. Then the heavy blanket coats, which had 
been well dried of all the perspiration absorbed dur- 
ing the day and well warmed, were put on. The 
heavy fur caps, with the big fur ears, were well 
drawn down, while over all the warm capotes, as 
hoods, were pulled up on the head and down in front 
to the nose. Great fur mittens made of beaver and 
otter fur were then drawn on the hands, and the 
night suit was complete. 

Mr. Ross took the outside place. Then Sam, 
Alec, and Frank cuddled down in the order named. 
There they lay with their feet as near to the fire as 
it was safe, so as not to burn the blankets or robes. 
Then the Indians quickly threw some heavy blankets 
and fur robes over them and began at their feet to 
tuck them in. Indians are very clever and handy at 
all such work, their movements are all so gentle and 
skillful. They would make the best nurses in the 
world. No woman is quieter, quicker, or more 
prompt just to do the right thing in the right way 
than an Indian attendant with a little training. It 
seems to come to them more natural than to any 
other people. So here they so daintily and yet so 
thoroughly tucked in the “master,” as they called 
Mr. Ross, and his three young guests. 

The boys enjoyed the operation hugely until they 
reached their heads. Then, as the Indians began 
to tuck in both blankets and fur robes under their 
heads, completely covering them up, it was a new 
experience, and one not very pleasant to contem- 
plate. Mr. Ross, who was an old traveler in this land, 
220 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

and one who had slept out hundreds of nights in this 
way, was not at all discommoded by the tucking in. 
But it was too much for the boys. They stood it as 
long as they could, and then almost simultaneously 
they threw up their arms and pulled down the heavy 
coverings from their faces. 

“O dear!” said Sam. ‘‘Let me freeze to death, 
but for dear old Ireland’s sake don’t smother me. If 
ye must send word to my mother that I have been 
frozen to death or eaten by bears she will believe 
you, and survive, but let it never be told that the 
Irish lad perished in this country under fur robes 
and blankets.” 

This pathetic lament of Sam’s brought forth roars 
of laughter from all who could understand it. 

“What have you to say, Alec?” said Mr. Ross. 

“Well, the fact is,” he replied, “I was feeling 
about as Sam has expressed it, only I put it in a 
different way. My thoughts were : ‘It is queer that 
I should have escaped from the wolves to be suffo- 
cated in this land for the want of fresh air I’ ” 

“What say you, Frank. We may as well hear 
from all.” 

Flis answer was: “Well, as I lay there on that 
contracted place, and the half-smothery sensation 
began to make life miserable, I remembered some of 
the lessons we were taught at school about requiring 
so many cubic feet of fresh air, and I began to won- 
der if such laws were obsolete out here.” 

With a little more freedom the boys were again 
tucked in, and it was not long before they were 
sound asleep. 


221 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

Memotas, the guide, rolled himself up in a woven 
rabbit skin robe, which was made out of a hundred 
and twenty skins, sixty being the warp and sixty the 
woof. His place was next to Frank. Then the 
other Indians, in their blankets, when they had fin- 
ished their smoking, laid down wherever there was 
room. These hardy natives do not wear half of the 
clothing by day that white people do, neither do they 
require such warm beds at night. 

The only disturbance in the night was caused by 
Sam. He set up a great howling, which caused the 
guide to spring up in a hurry to see what was the 
matter. In the morning, when Sam was questioned 
as to his troubles in the night, he said he was dream- 
ing that he was sliding down one of the Rocky 
Mountains with an elephant after him, and just as 
he reached the bottom the elephant tumbled on him, 
and there he lay yelling for help, until at length 
some one came and drove the elephant away. 

This was too much for even the sedate, clever 
Memotas, and as Mr. Ross noticed his hearty laugh, 
as a thing so unusual, he said : 

“Come, Memotas, you must surely know some- 
thing about this.’^ 

“Yes,’’ he answered, “I saw the elephant. It was 
Spitfire, his dog. I heard Alec moaning gently at 
first, and so I uncovered my head, for I wake very 
easily, and there was his dog. He was coming up 
from his feet, for the fire was burning low. He 
would take one or two steps and then stop and smell. 
I saw he was trying to find his master, so I did not 

disturb him. Soon he came up so far that he could 
222 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

lie down on Sam’s chest, on the outside on the robes. 
Then Sam, he began howling, and so he had what 
you white people call the nightmare, but this time it 
was the nightdog.” And Memotas softly laughed 
again, and others joined with him at Sam’s expense. 

At Mr. Ross’s request a large quantity of fuel had 
been cut the previous evening, so that the fire was not 
allowed to go entirely out during the whole night. 
The trees most common for fuel in all the North 
country are the dry spruce and balsam. The guides, 
looking for the camp, love to find a group of them 
where they are from fifty to seventy-five feet high. 
All required are chopped down and then cut into 
lengths of from ten to fifteen feet. They are easily 
handled by the stalwart men, and make a bright fire. 
Generally the fire is allowed to go out after all have 
retired to rest. However, if the wolves are howling 
around, the fire is well looked after all night, as these 
vicious brutes are very much afraid of a bright flame. 

The stars were shining brightly, and there was no 
sign of light in the eastern sky, when all were up and 
busy making preparations for the day’s journey. 
What most perplexed the boys was that there was 
no preparation made for washing hands or faces. 
Towels and soap were not considered essentials on 
such a journey. Each had in his pocket a comb and 
a toothbrush, and with these and a cup of melted 
snow he had to be content. 

Frank, young Englishman that he was, dearly 
loved his tub, or bath, and so it seemed about the 
hardest deprivation thus far presented that he could 

neither wash his hands nor face. 

223 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

“Too cold for that/' said the guide. “A mission- 
ary once tried it, although we warned him against it. 
He was three months healing up his chapped and 
bleeding hands." Then the guide added, as a little 
consolation, “If you like you can give yourself a dry 
rub with a piece of deerskin." 

The breakfast was similar to the supper of the pre- 
vious evening. Indeed, there was about the same bill 
of fare for every meal. It was strong, hearty food, 
and everyone was ready to do ample justice to it. 

After breakfast came prayers. A few verses from 
the good Book were read by Memotas, and then 
prayers were offered. Twice every day do these 
godly Indians thus worship God. They are the con- 
verts of self-sacrificing missionaries who, coming 
into these lands, amid the privations and hardships 
incident to such lonely, solitary places, here patiently 
toiled and labored to win these natives from their 
degrading, superstitious, abominable old religion to 
a knowledge of the one living and true God. They 
have not toiled in vain, as the true, noble, consistent 
lives of hundreds of their converts now bear witness. 

The catching and harnessing of the dogs is a mat- 
ter of pleasure or trouble, just as the dogs have been 
trained. Dogs kindly treated and taught to obey 
give no trouble, but with many, where their training 
was defective, there is constant annoyance and 
worry. The boys had treated their dogs so kindly 
that the cheery call was all that was needed. So 
with all the trains of Mr. Ross’s except one. These 
were what might be called a scratch train. They 

had been bought singly from different parties. When 
224 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

in harness they were the equal of any, but the trouble 
was to get them into their harness. One was a pure 
white animal. At the first sound or movement in the 
camp he would sometimes quickly sneak away from 
where he had nested all night and then lie down 
quietly in the snow. So white and still was he that 
it was impossible for the keenest eye to detect him in 
the early morning starlight. No calling would bring 
him. He just lay there perfectly still, and buried 
enough to be even with the snow around him. When 
he had one of these skulking tricks on him the quick- 
est way to find him was for several Indians to begin 
tramping in ever-widening circles around the camp 
until they ran on him. He would never run away, 
but his cunning trick was really more provoking than 
if he did. He was at length broken of it by being 
thoroughly blackened. Then, of course, he could be 
easily seen. This so grieved and humiliated him that 
he never tried the trick again, even after his beautiful 
white coat was cleaned for him, much to his great 

joy- 

Some dogs, as soon as they hear the bells jingling 
in the morning as their drivers come for them, will 
skulk off into dark places in the forests. There it 
is often difficult to find them. Then again some are 
so wild that a rope at least sixty feet in length is tied 
to their necks in the evening as they are unharnessed. 
By tramping around them in the morning the driver 
at length gets hold of the rope and draws in the 
culprit. 

A missionary who traveled some thousands of 
miles every winter with dogs had about the most 
15 225 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

satisfactory way of summarily dealing with skulkers. 
He had in his own team a powerful St. Bernard, so 
trained that all he had to do was to show him the 
collar of the missing dog and then send him after 
the truant. Hamilton gave one smell at the collar 
and then was off. If that dog was anywhere within 
two miles he was driven into the camp in a hurry. 
If a stubborn, obstinate dog objected to march in 
before him, he gave him a shaking that never had to 
be repeated. Dogs have good memories for various 
things. 

The loading the sleds was not as easy a matter as 
some might imagine. This the boys found out when 
they tried to attend to the work themselves. As 
stated somewhere else, the sleds are only sixteen 
inches wide and ten feet long. They are made of 
two oak boards lying on the flat and well fastened 
together by crossbars. The front end is planed thin 
and steamed, and is then curled up more or less 
gracefully, according to the taste and skill of the 
maker. They have no runners on them. They just 
glide along on the smooth flat under surface that by 
wear becomes like polished glass. Along each side 
numerous loops are securely fastened. When the 
empty sled is to be loaded the first thing is to spread 
out over it one of these large deerskin wrappers, the 
sled being under the exact middle. Then the various 
articles constituting the load, blankets, robes, provi- 
sions, kettles, guns, dog fish, and everything else, 
are carefully piled up, the heaviest at the bottom, to 
make the upsets as few as possible. Then the great 

deerskin leather is carefully and tightly folded over 
226 


IN THE Great Lone Land 


from both sides, and the whole is securely lashed on 
by the strong deerskin ropes, which are passed from 
side to side through the strong loops on the sled. An 
experienced driver will so well tie on a great load of 
the most miscellaneous articles that it will not give 
an inch, or be in the slightest degree disarranged, no 
matter how many times it may upset or roll over or 
tumble down hillsides either end first or sideways. 
So the boys, after finding that their best handiwork 
in this line often came to grief in bad places, were 
glad to avail themselves of the assistance of a clever 
Indian, and there was no more trouble. 

One careful look all around to see that nothing has 
been forgotten, and the cheery ^‘Marche!” is heard. 
Away rushes the guide, and another day’s journey is 
begun. 


227 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 


CHAPTER XVII. 

Still on the Way to the Beavers — The Blizzard in the Camp — 
Sleeping and Eating under Difficulties — Vicious Little Beaver 
Dogs — The Beaver House — Preparations for Their Capture — 
The Beavers’ Kitchens — Discovered by the Little Dogs — How 
Destroyed — The Method of Capture — Man’s Experience 
versus Animal Instinct — The Rich Harvest of Beavers. 

Still on the way for the beavers ! 

We are surely a long time getting there, but every 
mile of the journey is interesting and full of novelty. 
We left the blazing camp fire at a little this side of 
the Wolf's Cove. The stars were shining brightly 
in the heavens. Even the morning star, now so bril- 
liant, had not as the harbinger of the great sun yet 
made its appearance. 

As a help to brighten up the trail for a short dis- 
tance it is generally customary to pile on the fire, 
before starting, all of the wood remaining. This 
makes things look cheerful, and assists in the last 
investigation of the camp that nothing, not even a 
half-buried ax, is left behind. 

At first the progress is not very rapid. It is fear- 
fully cold. The dogs seem a little stiff, and some of 
them act as though they would much prefer to re- 
main near that cozy camp fire. But there is no time 
for regrets or delays. 

‘^Marche ! Marche !” is the cry, and as the whips, 
wielded by dexterous hands, give out their emphatic 

cracks the coldness and stiffness soon wear off, and 
228 



The Capture of the Beavers, 





r 


I 



IN THE Great Lone Land 

after the first mile or two the progress is very much 
improved as dogs and men warm up to their work. 

We need not dwell much longer on the journey. 
Enough has been given to enable every bright boy 
and clever girl who reads these pages to see how it is 
that travelers get along in a land where only the 
canoe in summer and the dog-train in winter afford 
them any possibilities for locomotion. Here are no 
locomotives, but lots of locomotion, and the most of 
it is done on foot, as often it is quite enough for the 
dogs to drag the heavy loads through the deep snow 
and in the long, tangled forests, without carrying an 
additional man or boy. So it is walk, or run, or more 
generally trot, as the case may be, as the dogs are able 
to get on or the trail will permit. 

Another long day with its glorious sunrise, and 
then, after the weary hours of travel and the several 
stops to eat, the sunset in cold splendor comes, and 
with it Memotas calls for the halt. Then another 
night in the woods, very similar to the one fully 
described, is passed, with the exception that during 
the hours of troubled slumber the fierce winds arose, 
and the light, dry snow in the three piled-up snow- 
banks of the camp was rudely seized hold of by rough 
old Boreas and driven hither and thither in his own 
rough way. Most of the snow seemed to find its 
way back to the place from which the snowshoes 
some hours before had thrown it, and now well it 
is for our young lads that they are so completely 
covered up in their bed, for the snow is now upon 
them to the depth of a couple of feet. Fortunately, 

the snow is like an extra blanket which Dame Nature 
229 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

has thrown upon them to add to their comfort. When 
the storm was beginning, and they began to move 
as some erratic snowflakes were so twisted around 
that they reached their faces, the guide, who well 
knew what a wretched night of discomfort would be 
theirs if they now, in the blinding storm, uncovered 
their heads, shouted to them with a good deal of 
sternness, “Do not uncover your heads ; lie still and 
sleep.” This after a little effort they were able to do. 
The fun, or rather discomfort, came in the morning, 
when the cry to get up was heard. Suddenly they 
sprang up, but in spite of all their quickness some of 
the snow went into their faces, and down their necks, 
and — well, it was far from agreeable. 

The outlook was dismal enough. The storm still 
continued raging. There was, in addition to the 
wind playing all sorts of pranks with what had 
already fallen, now a heavy snowfall besides. It 
seemed to penetrate everywhere. It forced its way 
into their eyes and noses and pockets, and tried to get 
under their caps and capotes. The fire was com- 
pletely extinguished. In fact, where the bright, 
blazing fire was so cheerily throwing out its heat and 
warmth when they were tucked in by the faithful 
Indian, now a great snowdrift occupied the very 
spot. 

The experienced travelers in these lands, even 
under such conditions and worse, do not lose heart. 
Quickly they went to work. Strong axes soon felled 
more dry trees and cut them into logs. Others, with 
snowshoes as shovels, soon cleared away the snow- 
drift from the fireplace. A skillful firemaker soon 
230 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

had the dry kindling and chips under the logs in a 
blaze, and now the wind only fanned the flames to a 
greater brightness. 

As the downfall of snow continues very heavy 
some tough poles are cut down and one end of them 
so fastened in the snow that they are firmly held. 
They are so slanted toward the fire, with the wind in 
the rear, that when roofed over with the big deerskin 
and a couple dropped each side it is astonishing how 
comfortably sheltered a few persons thus can be. 
The active Indians shook the dry snow off from some 
robes, and placing them as a floor Mr. Ross and the 
boys were soon under a storm-tight roof and gazing 
into the great fire just before them, that gave them 
both warmth and cheer. A hot breakfast was en- 
joyed as soon as the Indians could cook it. 

Some of the Indians improvised a similar lean-to 
for themselves, while others stood out in the gale 
around the fire perfectly unconcerned. To them the 
heavy storm was as little heeded as the songs of the 
robins in springtime, or the summer zephyrs among 
the trees. 

Owing to the delay of a half day on account of 
this disagreeable storm, the party did not reach the 
vicinity of the beaver house until toward evening. 
So it was resolved to find a good place for the camp, 
as the Indian hunters who owned this house said they 
would not take the beavers until the third day in the 
afternoon, and then they would take all they decided 
to in a short time. This was, of course, all a mystery 
to the boys, and so they were obliged to have pa- 
tience and witness the contest between animal instinct 
231 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

and cunning and man’s reason, observation, and 
ingenuity. 

The spot selected for the camp was not far from 
the beaver house, which stood in its symmetrical pro- 
portions well covered with snow, and looked like a 
great haystack in some farmer’s yard at home. 

The boys had observed on the sled of these Indians 
who owned the beaver house a little wickerlike 
basket well lined with rabbit skin. One day when 
peering into it two fierce little dogs snapped at them 
most viciously, and seemed very much annoyed at 
their intrusion. In the evening at the camp fire they 
asked Mr. Ross about them, and were surprised to 
hear that they are what are called beaver dogs. He 
said they were valuable, for with their help the In- 
dians would get the beaver in a very novel way, 
which they would see commenced to-morrow. Mr. 
Ross cautioned the boys not to put their naked hands 
near the vicious brutes, as they were very fierce and 
especially disliked white people. 

The camp was a well-sheltered, comfortable one 
for such a place, and as the storm had completely 
passed away, the evening, although very cold, was 
a fairly enjoyable one. The routine at this camp was 
similar to the first. The only excitement the boys 
had was when one of the Indians came in from ex- 
ploring the beaver house and dam and told them 
that a large wolverine was seen walking on the dam 
the beavers had made, and then round and round the 
beaver house. 

‘‘Beaver plenty safe there,” he added, in his broken 

English. “Wall four feet thick. Frost make all like 
232 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

stone. Only one door, and that under the thick ice 
and water. Wolverine no catch beaver in that 
house.” Then he added: “Beaver there for Injun 
to take. White boys see how him do it quick, two 
days more. Plenty work 5rst, then plenty beaver.” 

This picturesque talk to the boys was very inter- 
esting, and so they were all eager to see, as Sam 
said, “the curtain go up and the show begin.” 

As nothing could be done the next day before day- 
light, there was no particular hurry in getting up. 
After giving orders to the men who were left in 
charge at the camp to see that the dogs there re- 
mained, and that everything was kept in the best of 
order, and dinner ready at a certain hour, Mr. Ross 
and the boys, like the rest, strapped on their snow- 
shoes and away they tramped. The Indian hunters 
had the little dogs with them. These they carefully 
carried and kept covered up when not at work. The 
boys were first taken to the top of a hill, from which 
the whole pond, dam, and beaver house could be 
distinctly seen. Then Mr. Ross explained that, while 
the beaver generally dwelt in their house during the 
winter, they had in addition what the Indians called 
kitchens. These were cunningly hid along the shore 
at the edge of the ice. All were now out of sight and 
under the snow. They were ingeniously made, in 
such a way that the beaver by frequently visiting 
them and breaking away the ice, as it formed on the 
inside, could thus keep them open. They were really 
breathing places for the beaver in case they should 
be attacked in their houses and driven out. 

Inexperienced hunters often try to get the beaver 
233 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

by chopping, digging, or even blasting with gun- 
powder a hole into the beaver house. If the pond is 
well supplied with kitchens, or breathing places, the 
beavers need only laugh at such hunters, for just as 
soon as they become alarmed by these outside noises 
they plunge into the water, which is always open in 
the warm house, and dive out under the outer edge 
and away they go under the thick ice to the kitchens, 
which are so cunningly hid away. There they 
quietly remain and breathe the air which is necessary, 
as it comes through the light snow and through the 
rushes and reeds from which they keep the ice. 
When the noise is over and the beavers think that 
their enemies have gone, they go back to the house. 
If the invaders have much destroyed the house, the 
beavers desert it entirely and live in these kitchens 
until the spring freshets come and melt and carry 
away the ice. 

Sometimes a large colony of beavers with a big 
house will have twenty kitchens. If one is discovered 
they swim to another. We must remember that the 
beaver, although an amphibious animal and able to 
remain quite a time under water, requires fresh air, 
and so must go where he can get it, or he will die. 
The length of time that a beaver can live under the 
ice without air is a matter of dispute, even among 
the experienced hunters themselves. They all, how- 
ever, agree in saying that, when beavers find all of 
their retreats cut off, as a last resort they come up to 
the ice and breathe out the air in their lungs against 
the ice, and then, when it is good, they breathe it in 
again. But the trouble is that they lose some air 
234 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

bubbles each time, and so they soon become ex- 
hausted and die. 

In the meantime, while these interesting explana- 
tions were being made to the boys the Indians had 
commenced their operations. They had cut down a 
couple of small green birch trees which were eight or 
ten inches in diameter. Then they cut off lengths 
of about eight feet each. On these they vigorously 
set to work with their axes, and so cut or trimmed 
these down, except a foot or fifteen inches at one 
end, so that when finished they were like gigantic 
pounders. 

With these made and thrown over their shoulders 
they took their way to the pond, only carrying in 
addition the two little dogs. When the pond was 
reached the little dogs were set down in the snow 
near the edge. At first they only moaned and shiv- 
ered and begged to be again taken up by their 
masters. These, however, had no intention of doing 
anything of the kind. 

^‘Umisk ! Umisk !” they excitedly cried, and soon 
this Indian word for ‘‘beaver” began to have its ef- 
fect upon the dogs. Pricking up their ears, they 
began running about, until at length, with a couple 
of yelps of triumph, they were off. They hurried 
away as fast as their little legs could carry them 
through the light snow to a spot near the shore. 
Here they began making the snow fly as rapidly as 
was possible with their fore paws. One of the In- 
dians assisted them by utilizing his snowshoe as a 
shovel, and, sure enough, there at the very edge of 
the ice they found a mass of rushes and grass most 
235 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

cunningly arranged, with a little space in the center 
where it was open water. This was a beaver’s kitchen 
that had been so cunningly discovered by the keen 
scent of the little dogs. 

As soon as it had been discovered the Indians 
quickly picked up the little dogs and stowed the 
shivering creatures in warm bags on their backs. 
Now the boys were able to see the use to which these 
great big pounders, hewn out of the young birch 
trees, were put. With both of them the men began 
vigorously pounding down the coarse grass and 
rushes, and left the place so exposed that in a few 
hours it would be so solidly frozen over that not a 
particle of air could enter. 

Leaving this kitchen now completely destroyed, 
they began skirting the shore for a little distance up 
farther from the beaver house. Once more they 
lifted the little dogs out of the warm bags and placed 
the shivering animals on the ice. Then again the cry 
rang out, “Umisk! Umisk!” The result was as 
before. Like as an electric shock these words acted 
upon these queer little dogs, and at once they seemed 
to forget all about the cold and most vigorously set 
to work, and in a very few minutes had discovered 
another kitchen. This one was destroyed in the same 
manner as was the first. 

Thus on and on they cautiously prospected and 
worked. At one place where they had gone, but a 
short distance from the last kitchen destroyed, sud- 
denly one of the little dogs obstinately turned back 
and rushed to a spot where even the most experienced 
Indian had not the slightest suspicion of anything 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

being until the keen instinct of the dog discovered 
it. Following up the little fellow to the spot where 
he was now barking most furiously, the men had 
not dug long in the snow before they found the most 
cunningly hid away kitchen on the whole pond. So 
large was it, and so well arranged as the breathing 
place of a large number of beavers, that the hunters 
declared that if they had let that single one escape 
them they would have completely failed when they 
made their attack upon the beaver house. This 
sharpness on the part of the little dog made the men 
the more careful, and so it was noon ere the end of 
the pond was reached and about half of this work 
was completed. 

Dinner was ready for all when they returned to 
the camp. The boys were hungry and the cold had 
helped to sharpen their appetites. 

“How is it?” said Sam, “that I find myself picking 
out the fattest part of the meat and hardly caring to 
eat anything else?” 

“That is,” said Mr. Ross, “because you are in first- 
class health. And Nature, true to her instincts, is 
giving you and the rest of us the craving for just the 
kind of food that is now best adapted to our require- 
ments. Fat food has more heat in it than any other 
kind, and so that which you here crave is that which 
is really the most suitable. Living as we now are 
day and night out in the open air in this sharp cold 
weather, we require much more heat to keep us up 
to our normal temperature than if we were inside of 
the warm walls of Sagasta-weekee.” 

When dinner was ended the party returned to the 
237 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

pond, and the work of discovering and destroying 
the remaining beavers’ kitchens went on all the after- 
noon. The following night the two Indian hunters, 
upon whom so much depended, did not take any 
sleep, but with their heavy pounders kept on the alert 
against the efforts of the clever beavers. When they 
returned to the camp for a hasty breakfast in the 
morning they reported that they had had a very busy 
night, as the beavers seemed to have become pos- 
sessed with the idea that an attack was soon to be 
made upon them in their house. The result was 
they were very active all night, and persistent in their 
efforts to break through the new ice as it formed, 
and thus, if possible, keep some of their kitchens 
available in case of need. Some were so bold that if 
the Indians had been so inclined they could easily 
have speared them, as they so bravely charged the 
new ice with their heads and broke it up. They said 
that at that largest kitchen, which they so nearly 
overlooked, the beavers made their most persistent 
attacks. At times as many as a half dozen would 
together strike bravely at the ice. However, they 
thought that they had now succeeded in getting 
every place frozen air-tight and they could safely 
begin the work of attack upon the house, so that they 
would be ready by to-morrow to begin the capture 
of the beaver. 

Axes and ice chisels were the powerful tools re- 
quired to-day. Beginning at the shore on each side 
of the beaver house, the Indians cut two channels in 
the ice about a foot wide and so converging that 

they met about six feet in front of the house. Then 
238 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

the ice was cut out about ten feet further into the 
pond directly in front of the house. The capital 
letter Y will give a correct idea of the cuttings thus 
made. The upper two lines are the ones from the 
shore on each side of the beaver house; the lower 
and wider part of the letter represents the channel 
cut in front. This was perhaps ten feet long and 
about two feet in width. 

The next step was by careful measurement with a 
long pole to find the depth of the water in these 
channels thus free of ice. When this was done every- 
body able to handle an ax was soon busily at work 
cutting down small trees into poles not less than four 
inches in diameter and so long that when well driven 
in the mud the tops would still be considerably above 
the ice. None but straight, strong ones were of any 
use. Then, beginning close to the shore, the Indians, 
using, of course, the shorter poles where the water 
was shallow, began driving them in the mud through 
the channels cut in the ice. They worked very care- 
fully, for the beaver when aroused is a strong as well 
as a cunning animal, and the hunter who would not 
fail must be prepared for every emergency. The 
poles were driven in the two upper sides until the 
approaching columns of them came within about two 
feet of each other at the front. From this point the 
Indians turned and began driving the poles in the 
mud in two lines, parallel to each other, running out 
into the pond. This left a channel, allowing for the 
diameter of the poles, of, say, from twelve to fifteen 
inches wide and ten feet long. 

Carefully examining and testing over and over 
239 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

again the grip of each pole which had been driven 
into the mud at the bottom of the pond, the men 
were at length well satisfied with their work and 
said: ‘‘Very good. Injun have much fine beaver 
this time. We will have beavers’ tails for supper to- 
morrow night.” 

So anxious were those Indian hunters that even 
during the second night they slept but little, and 
several times slipped away from the camp and walked 
around from kitchen to kitchen to see that in every 
place the ice was firm and unbroken. In the morn- 
ing, when all were at breakfast, they reported that 
as the cold had become so intense they felt confident 
of success and anticipated the capture of a large 
number of beaver. For days they had been working 
up to this consummation. Experienced men grimly 
and remorselessly had pitted their long years of ex- 
perience against the instincts and cunning of a colony 
of beavers, and as it always is, in the end, man must 
conquer. 

“What are you going to do next?” is the question 
of the boys. All the answer, however, they receive 
is to be patient and they will soon see for themselves. 
Their interest, however, is increased when to all is 
uttered the command, “Get all the guns ready, and 
load them heavily with powder.” With several 
extra charges they are all soon on their way to the 
beaver house. When there they find that the water 
in the channel cut in the front yesterday has ice on it 
fully six inches in thickness. This will give some 
idea of the severity of the cold, but nobody seems to 

notice it in the excitement of the hour. Very quickly 
240 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

is this ice broken up and thrown out on the frozen 
surface of the pond. 

One of the Indians has in his hand a long, stiff rod 
about the size of a bamboo fish pole. This will play 
an important part in the capture of the beaver, as we 
shall see later on. The next part of the program is 
of great interest to the boys. Everybody now goes 
to the land side of the beaver house, and at once there 
begins the greatest din and racket it is possible for 
the whole party to make. The guns are all fired off, 
and loaded and fired again and again. The men with 
their great pounders most vigorously beat against 
the solid walls on the land side, as though they would 
burst in upon the now terrified inhabitants. This 
attack and noise continued until it is supposed that 
all of the frightened animals have fled away from the 
house, which they must have imagined was about 
being knocked to pieces about their ears. The result 
is the house is deserted, and the now frightened 
beaver are away out somewhere in the pond, swim- 
ming under the ice. 

As soon as the Indians feel confident that all have 
forsaken the house they hurry out on the pond in the 
front. Here in the open water, in the space between 
the poles which were so solidly driven, the long 
slender pole is pushed down firmly through the water 
into the mud at the bottom of the pond. One of the 
Indians now quickly pulls off his shirt sleeve, as well 
as that of his coat, and throws himself down on the 
ice close to the open channel which has been de- 
scribed. His comrade quickly throws a warm 
blanket over him to at least partly protect him from 
1 6 241 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

the intense cold. Then, arming himself with a heavy 
ax, this second Indian quietly steps back a pace or 
two. 

“Hush ! Everybody keep still or sit down on the 
ice, and do not utter a word. Do not move your 
feet on the ice; do not even breathe heavily, for 
beavers have wonderful powers of hearing.’’ 

Promptly had everyone obeyed Mr. Ross, who 
had uttered these commands. He had placed the 
boys where they could easily see the wonderful way 
in which these experienced hunters would quickly 
gather up their beaver harvest after all their effort 
and toil. 

But where are the beavers ? They are in all proba- 
bility out under the ice, swimming about from one 
kitchen to another, vainly trying to find one in which 
they can get their lungs full of fresh air. If the men 
and those saucy little dogs have been successful in 
closing up all of these resorts, vain are the beavers’ 
efforts. For a long time these wonderful creatures 
are able to keep alive under water, but there is a limit 
to this ability, and then it becomes a matter of life 
or death to them. Thus it now was with these bea- 
vers. They had been frightened from their home, 
and had hoped to be able to obtain fresh air at places 
carefully prepared for just such emergencies. But, 
alas ! these have failed them, and now there is noth- 
ing else to do but to make the effort to get back to 
their home as soon as possible. This they now find 
is no easy matter. A strange barricade of stakes is 
in the way, and there is only one opening, and even 

that is a very narrow one. But they are now in such 
242 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

sad straits for fresh air that they must try that one 
place and get to their home or perish. 

Meanwhile the boys, sitting so still and quiet on 
the ice, began to think that it was getting very 
monotonous, especially Sam, who found it to be ex- 
tremely difficult to have to hold his tongue so long. 
But look ! The top of that long slender twig is being 
roughly shaken, and quick as a flash down goes the 
naked arm of the alert Indian, and as rapidly does it 
come up again, and in the strong grasp of his hand 
is a fine, large beaver. With a sudden swinging 
movement he sends it sprawling out on the ice, where 
his comrade is waiting to dispatch it with his ax. 

Now the boys see the important part played by 
that little stick. See, it moves again, and once more 
the long, naked arm is thrust down and another 
great beaver is thrown out on the ice. This one, like 
his predecessor, is quickly dispatched. For a time 
all is still again. The beavers crowding behind these 
two that have been so readily captured have been 
frightened by their sudden movements, so unnatural, 
and so they hesitated to follow. But others are 
closely following behind, and all are suffering acutely 
now for the want of fresh air, and thus it is only a 
minute or two before the moving stick tells the story 
that another beaver is making the attempt to reach a 
spot where he can get some fresh air. Vain indeed 
are his efforts, for no sooner does he touch that fatal 
stick than down goes that strong, muscular hand and 
arm and he is thrown out on the ice, to be killed in 
the same manner as were his fellows. 

See what a splendid black beaver that is ! But, O 
243 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

dear ! he has lost him. Yes, he has. That is too bad, 
and he brought him up far enough for his head to be 
out of the water, and so he once more filled up his 
lungs, and as he tumbled in he fell beyond the stick. 
So that one is lost for this year. 

But there is no time for mourning over the loss of 
one, even if he was a beauty. They crowd up quickly 
now, and the Indians are busy. They keep cool and 
alert, for the harvest is increasing. 

The condition of the beavers is now so desperate 
that recklessly they are crowding on, and although 
the man is pulling them out as rapidly as possible it 
is evident that numbers, especially of the smaller 
ones, are slipping by and thus are lost for that year. 
In order to secure a greater nmnber the second In- 
dian gives his ax to Mr. Ross and goes to the help 
of his comrade. 

No need of quiet now. The remaining beavers 
must get by that stick or perish, and as they make the 
attempt, while some are captured, many others es- 
cape. Thus it goes on until the last one has either 
been secured by the Indians or has eluded them. Let 
us hope that he escaped to live another year. 

‘^Count the spoils, boys,” shouts Mr. Ross. No 
second command is needed. They collect them to- 
gether and find that there are forty-seven of them, 
and not a small one among them. In addition, there 
were plenty that escaped to restock the house, and in 
two years it will in all probability be as rich a beaver 

harvest field as it has been to-day. 

244 




The Last of the Buffalo 





IN THE Great Lone Land 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

Wise Economy of Indian Hunters — Game Never all Killed — 
Beavers’ Tails — The Boys Interested in Them — Preparations 
for the Return Trip — Loads Packed — Wolverines — Their Cun- 
ning Theft of Five Beavers — Dogs and Men on Their Trail — 
Surviving Beavers Already at Work — The Return of the Hunt- 
ers — Captured Wolverines — ^Journey Resumed — The Camp — 
The Cry of “Wolves!” 

Allowing a number of the beavers to escape was 
the almost universal custom of those northern In- 
dian hunters. They never killed all the game of any 
kind. Thus where they alone hunted the forests 
continued to yield their yearly supplies. But when 
the white trapper enters with his steel traps and poi- 
sons he kills all before him, if possible, even if he 
does not secure one half of it. The result is that 
great regions once rich in valuable fur-bearing ani- 
mals are now as completely denuded of them as are 
the prairies of the once countless herds of buffalo. 
Pathetic is the picture of the last of the buffalo ! 

The call, loud and clear, was sent by the far-reach- 
ing voice of one of the hunters to the watchers at the 
camp, and speedily in answer came a couple of trains 
of dogs. These were attached to the two now well- 
filled sleds, and the whole party, flushed with tri- 
umph at their success, returned to the camp. They 
are all in good trim for their dinner, and speedily is 
it dispatched, for all these beavers must be skinned, 
if possible, before they freeze. 

The Indian servants of Mr. Ross aid the hunters, 
246 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

and so the work is rapidly done. As the flesh of the 
beaver is very much prized as an article of food, the 
carcasses were carefully prepared. The tails were 
left attached to the bodies with the exception of a 
half dozen, which were left out for the evening meal. 
These tails very much interested and amused the 
boys, not only on account of their odd appearance, 
but because of the many queer tales they had heard 
about them. The tail of the beaver serves as a rud- 
der to its owner when he is swimming. It aids him 
in various ways when he is building his cozy house 
and marvelously constructed dam. Next to his pow- 
erful teeth it is his best weapon of defense, as with it 
he can strike a very heavy blow. Thus it was no 
wonder that the boys were interested in these half 
dozen tails on which they expected to dine that 
evening. 

The process of preparation was very simple. The 
tails were from twelve to fifteen inches long and 
from six to eight inches in width, and about an inch 
thick. They were oval-shaped, somewhat resembling 
in appearance a mason’s trowel. They were covered 
with close-fitting, fishlike scales. The first thing 
necessary in preparing them for the table is to hold 
them so close to a hot fire that the scales will speedily 
blister off. The next thing is to boil them for a long 
time, especially if they are the tails of old beavers. 
Then it is best to allow them to get thoroughly cold, 
as they taste very much better then than when eaten 
hot. In carving them the correct method is to cut 
the meat in long strips from the powerful central 

bone. These are then to be served up and eaten with 
246 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

a little salt. Beavers’ tails thus prepared make a very 
dainty dish. Indeed, it is one of the great delicacies 
of the country, prized alike by both Indians and 
travelers. The other two great delicacies of the 
country are the moose’s nose and the bear’s paws. 

‘‘That looks queer to me,” said Sam, “that the 
delicacies of a country should be the beaver’s tail, the 
bear’s paws, and the moose’s nose. If such is the 
case, you see that when here eating even the delica- 
cies of the land you are reduced to extremities !” 

“A very good one, Sam,” shouted the boys. “Old 
Ireland forever!” 

The beavers’ tails, although never tasted before 
by the boys, were very much enjoyed by them. They 
racked their brains and memories to try and think of 
some article of food that had a taste somewhat simi- 
lar, but had to give it up. So they had to agree with 
Alec that if you wished to know just how beavers’ 
tails tasted — well, you must eat one. 

As the evening promised to be a calm and beautiful 
one, Mr. Ross said that they had better start not long 
after midnight. They could travel on the back trail 
until they reached the camp where the storm had 
struck them without much difficulty ; after which in 
all probability they would have to make a fresh trail. 
A blizzard storm in that land quickly obliterates a 
trail, and thus the return journey is often made with- 
out a single evidence of any other trip ever having 
been made in that region of country. Their great 
success in capturing so many beavers meant a large 
additional weight on their sleds. However, against 

that was the fact that their vigorous appetites had 
247 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

very considerably reduced the weight of their outfit, 
and in addition their dogs had, since they left home, 
devoured about a thousandweight of fish. Forty- 
seven beavers weigh a good deal when they have to 
be drawn many scores of miles on dog-sleds, and so, 
in spite of the lightened loads, it was no easy matter 
to arrange them on the sleds. 

That they might be ready to make the desired start 
in good time it was thought best that Mr. Ross and 
the boys should go to bed in their camp outfit as has 
been described, while the men should load up the 
sleds as far as possible, just leaving sufficient room 
in the deerskin wrappings for the packing away of 
the bedding and the other essentials required at the 
midnight meal. This meant that the Indians would 
have at least two hours’ less sleep than the whites. 
This would be no unusual occurrence. As a general 
thing the Indians sleep very little when traveling, in 
summer or winter. This is especially the case when 
they are employed as canoemen or dog-drivers. 
They are so alert and watchful and anxious that 
everything should go right, that often white men 
have traveled for weeks together with several of 
these red men in their employ without ever having 
once seen one of them asleep. They seldom think of 
lying down until long after their employers have 
gone to sleep, and then they are up long before them 
in the mornings. And yet how few there are who 
have given these most vigilant and faithful of com- 
rades or servants their due meed of praise ! 

To the music of the few quiet, whispered words of 

the men, as they actively attended to the work of 
248 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

packing up the sleds, Mr. Ross and the boys quickly 
fell into dreamless slumber. When the men had 
finished packing and fastening up the loads they 
dragged them out in line on the homeward trail, leav- 
ing sufficient space between the sleds for the dogs 
when they should be harnessed to them. The result 
was that the whole line of sleds, when thus stretched 
out, extended quite a distance from the camp. 

Loud were the shoutings and many were the in- 
dignant utterances which quickly aroused Mr. Ross 
and his young bedfellows from their slumbers. 

“What is the matter?” demanded Mr. Ross. 

“Wolverines !” was the quick response. 

Great indeed was the excitement, and at first the 
boys could hardly realize how the mention of that 
one word could cause such commotion. Even Mr. 
Ross was about as much excited as anyone else. 
While guns were being loaded, and other prepara- 
tions were being made for a speedy hunt, the cause 
of all the excitement was soon told. It was that in 
spite of the presence of so many persons and dogs 
the wolverines had crept up to the sleds and had 
stolen away five of the best beavers, and in addition 
had so badly scented with their horrid odor more 
than a dozen others that they were absolutely 
worthless. 

“How was it possible that none of the dogs de- 
tected them ?” asked Mr. Ross. “They are generally 
sleeping in various places around the camp. I am 
sure I cannot understand how those brutes, cunning 
as they are, could play such a trick upon us.” 

In response to this one of the men explained that 
249 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

after they had finished arranging their loads they 
went out and brought into the camp all of the dogs, 
so as to have no trouble in finding them when they 
would be required. They stated also that during the 
brief time they tried to get a little sleep some of the 
dogs were very restless, and they had to speak sternly 
to them to induce them to be quiet. Then he added : 

“The dogs most uneasy were those of Sam’s train. 
Several times they growled, and were very uneasy. 
Spitfire was the worst, and acted like a dog ready for 
a fight.” 

The stupid drivers, instead of calling the hunters, 
who were very sleepy from the fact that they had had 
hardly any sleep for several nights past, sternly 
threatened the dogs, and thus succeeded in quieting 
them down. After a time some disagreeably tainted 
air reached the sensitive nostrils of one of the Indian 
hunters. He did not require a second sniff to tell him 
what it indicated. With a bound he was up. Sud- 
denly rousing his comrade, they rushed out into the 
gloom of the forest. Unfortunately for them, the 
fire was about out, and so at first it was impossible to 
see how great had been their loss from these stealthy, 
cunning animals. It was when they had rushed back 
to the camp, and were rousing up the other men and 
rebuilding the fire, that the commotion was made 
which had so suddenly called up Mr. Ross and the 
boys. A casual glance had enabled them to see, as 
we have mentioned, something of the nature of their 
loss. On a closer investigation it was found that the 
damage was even much greater. 

What was to be done ? This was the question now 
250 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

discussed, and quickly was a decision arrived at. It 
was to organize a party and have them get on the 
trail of the wolverines and follow them up until they 
were reached. It was decided that those dogs which 
manifested any great eagerness to pick up and fol- 
low on the trail should be the ones encouraged to 
push on as rapidly as possible, while the hunters with 
their guns should follow as speedily as it could be 
done in the dense, gloomy forest. 

Spitfire and the rest of Sam’s train were the first 
when taken to the place to immediately pick up the 
scent, and, as soon as they were encouraged by Sam 
to do so, away they dashed in the gloom. Bruce and 
his comrades were equally as eager, and as Alec’s 
cheery voice rang out his dogs quickly responded, 
and away they sped on the hot trail of the audacious, 
cunning thieves. The two hunters and a couple of 
Mr. Ross’s best men, with their guns well loaded and 
with their snowshoes on their feet, as rapidly as was 
possible strode after them. 

Mr. Ross and the boys waited until the last sounds 
of the dogs were lost in the distance, and then, by the 
light of the now brilliant camp fire, made a more 
careful inspection of the sleds, and so were able to 
see the full extent of the depredations made by these 
most cunning of all animals in those regions. There 
they not only saw the full extent of their destructive- 
ness, but under the guidance of the Indian now keep- 
ing watch over the sleds they were able, by following 
back on their tracks, to see how five wolverines had 
outwitted the whole of them, dogs included. 

When they returned to the warmth and cheer of 
251 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

the camp fire they found that old Memotas and others 
had prepared for them a good warm breakfast. 
While it was being partaken of Frank turned to 
Memotas and said : 

‘‘How is it that you, who are so great a hunter, are 
not off in the woods with those other men 

With a grim, sarcastic smile he replied: “Better 
some one stay in camp for fear wolverines come in 
on other side and steal what is left.’^ 

This answer was at first quite a riddle to the boys. 
But the fact was he was so thoroughly disgusted at 
the remissness of those whose duty had been to have 
watched that night that he felt that a great dis- 
grace had come to them all. The idea of allowing 
five wolverines to thus steal such a march upon them 
was too much for even the patient, kind-hearted 
Memotas. 

“Why,’’ said he, “it will be the story at every camp 
fire this winter — yes, and for long years to come. 
We all know that wolverines are cunning animals, 
but when the fact is known that there were so many 
of us in the camp at the time that five beavers were 
stolen from our sleds — why, great will be their ridi- 
cule and contempt for us.” 

It was indeed a long time since Memotas had made 
such a long speech of this kind, and so when he 
stopped there was an awkward silence. Even Mr. 
Ross had nothing to say. It was very evident, how- 
ever, that he felt that there had been very great care- 
lessness on the part of somebody, and perhaps he 
chided himself that he had not interested himself in 

the matter. However, he had his hopes that in spite 
252 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

of the cunning of the wolverines the men would 
succeed in killing some of them, and as one wol- 
verine skin is worth four beaver skins, if they were 
successful there would at least be some satisfaction 
in that. 

As it was still a long time until daylight the boys 
were persuaded to lie down in their bed, and Memo- 
tas carefully tucked them in. Refreshing sleep 
speedily came to them again, and when they awoke 
it was to hear Mr. Ross giving some final instruc- 
tions to three dog-drivers who were just about to 
start on the trail made at midnight by the wolver- 
ines, barking dogs and angry, indignant hunters. 
Wrapped securely upon their sleds was a liberal 
supply of food, with kettles, axes, and other things 
that might be required. 

As they started the eastern sky almost suddenly 
became illuminated with the brightness of the com- 
ing day. So beautiful was the morning that the 
boys longed to go with the departing trains. It was 
thought best, however, owing to the uncertainty and 
probable hardships that might have to be encoun- 
tered, not to run the risk. To pleasantly and profit- 
ably pass the time it was suggested that some of 
them go out on a tour of investigation on the trail 
of the wolverines, and see in what direction they 
came and how it was that they had so well succeeded 
in their movements. Dear old Memotas, disconso- 
late as he was, was persuaded to go along and ex- 
plain the various movements of these clever animals 
to the boys. This he could well do, as he had hunted 
them for many years and knew much about them, 
253 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

although he always declared that there were some of 
them that could outwit any Indian. 

They all first went to the spot where stood the 
sleds from which the beavers had been stolen. Then, 
with Memotas leading, they followed back on the 
tracks, and soon they found as they went on that 
the cautious animals had completely crept around 
the camp ere they had begun their depredations. 
Continuing on their trail, still going back, they 
found that the wolverines had come directly from 
the spot on the dam where the beavers had been cap- 
tured, as has been described. 

While so near the beaver house Memotas said to 
the boys that it might be interesting to try and find 
out if the surviving beavers had as yet gone to work 
again. That anything could be found out seemed 
impossible to the boys, but the experienced eye of the 
old Indian saw evidences of their industry very close 
at hand. Of course the intense cold had again 
frozen up the water where from it the ice had been 
cut and thrown out. This newly formed ice, of 
course, firmly held up the row of strong stakes which 
with so much trouble and care the men had driven so 
solidly in the ground. Drawing his hunting ax 
from his belt, Memotas struck the projecting ends of 
the stakes a few smart blows, just sufficient to loosen 
them from the new ice. Then said Memotas to the 
boys : 

‘Try and see which of you is strong enough to 
pull any of them up.’’ 

Eagerly they each seized hold of one, and, ex- 
pecting that the other end was still securely stuck 
254 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

in the mud, they pulled with such vigor that the 
three of them nearly fell over on their backs. To 
their astonishment they found by the appearance of 
the short sticks in their hands that the beavers had 
cut them off just below the ice. 

After some further interesting investigation they 
returned to the camp, for very naturally they were 
all anxious to get some word from the hunters and 
the dogs. Fortunately they had not long to wait, 
for very soon after their return the expected ones 
dashed into their midst. On their sleds they had 
three dead wolverines. The dogs had returned 
panting and tired. They were all in good shape 
except Bruce and another one of Alec’s train. These, 
in battle with the wolverines, had each received a 
couple of severe flesh wounds, but they seemed to 
think nothing of them, and in a short time they 
completely healed up. Everybody was, of course, 
anxious to hear their story, and so one of the hunters 
was asked to be the spokesman for the whole, and 
here is about what he said : 

“You all know how we started. You boys set 
your dogs on the tracks, and away they went and 
we after, as fast as we could follow. The dogs 
could travel much faster than we could, and so it 
was not long before they were out of hearing. The 
wolverines must have got a good start, as it was 
a long time before we found any trace of them. But 
we pushed on as fast as it was possible for us to do 
in the darkness. Sometimes the northern lights 
shone out, and then we made very much better time. 
By and by we came to a half-eaten beaver that had 
255 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

been dropped by one of the thieves. This told us 
that the dogs must be driving them very close, for a 
wolverine will make a big fight before he will give 
up what he has secured. Still on we hurried, and it 
was not long after this before we heard the dogs 
again. Then we found another of the skinned bea- 
vers, and now the barkings of the dogs told us that 
the fight was on in good earnest. 

“We had been so much hindered by the dense 
woods, that was the reason we were so far behind, 
but now, as we came out from a bad piece of the 
forest, right there before us was a sight to please us 
for our anger at the loss of the beaver. The dogs 
had driven one wolverine up into the branches of a 
large tree, while others were barking furiously at 
two others which they had chased up among some 
steep rocks. It was at this time, just as we reached 
them, that some of the dogs got cut and wounded. 
They seemed to be so glad to see us coming to their 
help that they made a furious attack upon the two 
that were upon the rocks, and some of them were 
taught that wolverines have sharp teeth and know 
well how to use them. 

“We speedily shot these three animals, and then 
began at once to look for the tracks of the other two. 
After some time we found them, and in following 
them up we soon saw that they had reached the great 
cliffs, among which are their dens. We could not 
then hope for much more success. So we returned 
to the spot where we had left the three dead ones, 
and were just about beginning to skin them when 
the sleds arrived, and it was thought best, after we 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

had had something to eat from the supplies Mr. 
Ross was so good as to send us, for us all to return, 
and here we are.” 

This was the story, and it showed quick, sharp, 
thorough work on the part of both men and dogs. 
This long delay had caused quite a break in their 
plans. Mr. Ross, however, decided that just as soon 
as the wolverines could be skinned, and dinner pre- 
pared and eaten, the home journey must be resumed. 
Some of the party would have preferred to have 
remained until the next day before starting, but 
Memotas sarcastically remarked that they had bet- 
ter go on for fear some more wolverines might 
come and carry away the rest of the beavers ! It is 
a remarkable fact, and one interesting to study, that 
the Indians are much more bitter and sarcastic on 
each other for any act of carelessness in capturing 
or securing their game than for any other defect or 
folly. 

The homeward journey was soon resumed, and 
after traveling about twenty miles the winter camp 
was prepared. Fortunate was it for them that they 
were able to find a favorable place in the very midst 
of a large quantity of dry trees. So warm and in- 
vigorating was the work of cutting down these tall 
dry trees that not only did the boys, but several of 
the men, as they said, for the fun of it, slash away 
until an unusually large number had thus been made 
ready for the fire. 

The owners of the beavers were not to be caught 
napping again, and so they erected a kind of a 
staging near to the camp, on which the valuable loads 
1 7 257 


.Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

of meat and furs were safely placed. Memotas had 
to have another drive or two at them, and so he 
ironically congratulated them on their late precau- 
tions. Sam said it looked like the old proverb of 
locking your stable after the horse was stolen. Alec’s 
more charitable remark was, “It is best to be made 
wise by the loss and then strive to save the rest.” 

Yes, indeed, it was a wise precaution, for even 
now, while the men were thus hard at work and 
others were thus discussing their actions, far back 
on the trail hungry and cruel enemies have caught 
the rich scent of the beaver, and with long, louping 
strides are rapidly drawing near. Supper and 
prayers were over, and the men had nicely tucked 
in the boys in their warm bed. Before lying down 
themselves they had as usual lit their pipes and were 
having a quiet chat over the usual incidents of the 
day. With a sudden start they were all on their 
feet in an instant, for coming down on the wind, in 
the direction in which they had so recently traveled, 
they heard a sound so blood-curdling and so omi- 
nous that it has chilled the very heart and caused the 
cheeks to blanch of many a stout-hearted traveler, 

the bowlings of a pack of wolves ! 

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Explosions Mingled with Ydls of Pain and Terror. 



IN THE Great Lone Land 


- CHAPTER XIX. 

The Coming Battle with the Wolves — Thorough Prepara- 
tions — The Cry of the Wolves for Reinforcements — The First 
Attack and Repulse — Wounded Wolves Devoured — Memotas’s 
Comments — The Second Attack — The Powder Explosions — 
Final Victory — Dogs Reluctant to Attack Wolves — Explana- 
tions — Mr. Ross’s Story of the Bears Stealing His Pigs — Dogs 
More Confident in Attacking Bears. 

The Indians very quickly aroused Mr. Ross, who 
at once realized the danger that menaced them. The 
Indians, prompt to act in such emergencies, had 
already begun their preparations to meet the on- 
coming foes. They had seized their axes, and were 
already hard at work cutting down more trees, that 
there might be an additional supply of wood with 
which the fire could be kept brilliantly burning. 
Some of the men were busily engaged in getting the 
guns and ammunition ready and in making other 
arrangements that would aid to success in the ap- 
proaching battle. 

To Mr. Ross the Indians left the work of calling 
up the boys and informing them of the coming 
danger. This he speedily did, and great was their 
surprise when informed of the fact that in all proba- 
bility they were in for a fierce battle with an 
unknown number of savage wolves. 

To judge by their bowlings the wolves were still 
a long distance from the camp. The hearing of the 
Indians is very acute, and when the temperature is 

down so low that the mercury is frozen sounds are 
259 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

heard very much more distinctly, and from a greater 
distance, than under ordinary atmospheric condi- 
tions. Thus there was fortunately a little time for 
preparation ere they would have to meet the fierce 
assault. 

The boys were each urged to quickly put the har- 
ness on their own dogs and bring them into the 
camp, which was rapidly being enlarged. The old 
dogs, that had a wholesome dread of wolves, were, 
it was thought, wise enough to look after them- 
selves. Before even Mr. Ross and the boys had 
heard the wolves the old dogs had detected falling 
on their ears the melancholy sound, and trembling 
with fear they came crowding into the camp, and to 
the feet of their different drivers. 

Trees were fallen all around, under the vigorous 
blows of the choppers, and were being cut into 
lengths that could be carried in. Three or four men 
would seize hold of these great dry logs and speedily 
bring them into the position which they well knew 
would be to the best advantage. The sleds were 
rearranged, and so placed that logs could be piled 
on them. The harnesses were all hung high, and 
everything made as secure as possible. Wolves are 
afraid of fire, and so now it was that on this fire the 
Indians were going mainly to depend. Already the 
men had thrown a number of fresh logs on the fire, 
as well as extended it out in crescent shape to the 
right and left. Behind the camp they cut down a 
number of the trees, so placing them that they made 
a natural barricade as they crashed into each other. 
It was not at all wolf-proof, but it would prevent a 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

rush attack, and those bold enough to try to venture 
through could be easily seen and shot. 

About five hundred yards from the camp the trail 
made quite an ascent ere the camp was reached. Up 
to the moment when the wolves reached the top of 
this ascent they had traveled altogether by the strong 
scent of the castoreum which is found in the body of 
the beaver, and which had most thoroughly per- 
fumed the whole party, dogs, men, and outfit. As 
the brilliant fire now for the first moment was seen 
by them their bowlings suddenly ceased, and it was 
evident that they were very much perplexed. 

“Bothered are you?’' chuckled Memotas, as he 
carefully examined his gun. “Wanted beaver, did 
you, and prepared to take it raw, and now it looks 
as though, if you get it, you will have to take it hot ? 
Well, come on for it, if you dare.” 

These sarcastic words were helpful to the boys, 
who had worked splendidly under Mr. Ross’s guid- 
ance. There was no doubt about it that the boys 
were excited. Alec, whose fearful race against such 
monsters came visibly before him, was agitated, yet 
he bravely did everything desired of him, and felt 
that he was in for another triumph. It is no sign 
of cowardice to be conscious of the danger to be 
faced. The bravest of the brave are those who 
realize the greatness of the task before them and 
then unflinchingly face it, to conquer or to die. 

Unfortunately, on this trip the boys had not 
brought with them their guns. However, before 
starting Mr. Ross had seen that one apiece for each 

of his men, including Memotas, with abundance of 
261 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

ammunition, was placed upon the sleds. The hunt- 
ers fortunately had an extra gun with them, and this 
was handed to Mr. Ross. 

‘T wonder what conspiracy they are hatching 
now,” said Memotas, as the wolves continued so 
strangely silent. 

“Nothing that bodes any good to us,” replied Mr. 
Ross. He had been in critical positions like this be- 
fore, and now as the scent of battle once more was 
on him he handled his gun with pleasure and re- 
joiced in the excitement of the hour. He would 
have been glad if the boys had been safe at Sagasta- 
weekee, for as yet it was utterly impossible to form 
any estimate of their as yet unseen foes’ numbers, 
or to judge of the fierceness of the attack which 
they would shortly make. 

For about half an hour this strange, unnatural 
stillness continued, and then there broke upon their 
ears a horrid din that seemed to come from every 
point in the compass around them. Although the 
sound was some distance oft*, yet so blood-curdling 
was it that the boys were startled, and Alec pulled 
his fur cap down over his ears in a vain endeavor to 
shut out the horrid sounds. The dogs seemed at 
first to try and answer this noisy challenge, but soon 
their courage sadly oozed out, and they tremblingly 
huddled together in the camp, or close to their 
masters’ feet. 

To the boys’ amazement, the Indians unconcern- 
edly put down their guns, and taking up their pipes 
began to smoke. Turning to the boys, Mr. Ross 
said: 


262 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

‘‘You had all better lie down and sleep, for we are 
not going to be troubled with the wolves for a good 
while.’^ 

“Why, dare we do that,” said Frank, “when the 
wolves are now all around us?” 

“Yes,” said Mr. Ross, “that last cry we heard was 
from different points around us, but it was not the 
challenge of immediate attack, but a call sent out for 
reinforcements. Every wolf within ten miles of us 
heard that far-reaching cry, and is galloping in this 
direction.” 

“That means,” said Sam, “that every wolf within 
four hundred miles of us is mustering for the fight ?” 

“Precisely,” said Alec, “if you square the circle.” 

It was rather trying for the boys to be asked to lie 
down and go to sleep under such circumstances, yet 
they promptly obeyed the request of those they knew 
would only give them the best of advice. Strange 
as it may appear to some, our brave boys were soon 
sound asleep, and when about an hour after they 
were called up again they found themselves re- 
freshed and doubly nerved for the coming conflict. 

The subdued bowlings of the wolves were again 
distinctly heard, and it was the opinion of the In- 
dians that they were holding a big council to decide 
on the plan of their attack. Knowing so well their 
methods, it was the opinion of them all that the 
heaviest assault would be on the leeward side, as 
there the wind carried the strong scent from the 
castoreum and the meat. To impede them in their 
rush if they should try that method of attack, a 
couple of Indians with their axes ventured out in 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

that direction and cut down a number of trees, which 
they caused to fall in such a way that the wolves, 
when approaching, would be delayed by them, and 
thus render it easier for them to be shot. While 
these men were thus chopping, in that advanced 
position of danger, others with loaded guns stood 
not far behind as their defenders. However, they 
were not disturbed except by one skulking fellow, 
that was doubtless acting as a scout. When he saw 
that he was discovered he quickly retreated back in 
the gloom of the forest. 

The increasing din and the more confident yelps 
told the men, who, living in the forest, had become 
familiar with the various sounds and calls of the 
wild beasts, that reinforcements were coming in, and 
that the attack would soon be made. 

The camp could muster ten guns. Six of these 
were doubled-barreled, but they were all muzzle- 
loaders. When the boys were aroused the second 
time they were each given small-sized axes as their 
weapons of defense, in case the battle should reach 
the camp, which, however, was not anticipated. In 
addition they were expected to keep the dogs to- 
gether and soothe and quiet them as much as 
possible. 

Noticing some peculiar rolls of birch bark well 
back from the fire, on which Memotas was keeping 
a careful eye, Sam inquired what they were, and was 
interested to learn that they were a kind of impro- 
vised hand grenade, made by Memotas, to be used 
if the wolves should strive to come too close. They 

each contained two or more pounds of powder, and 
264 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

if they did but little execution they would at least 
add to the noise and excitement. 

At the request of all the men Mr. Ross was ap- 
pointed as captain, whose word was to be obeyed by 
all. That he might be able to wisely direct the men 
to the points where the attack seemed to be most 
directed, a scaffold of logs was hurriedly erected on 
the windward side of the camp. So abundant was 
the supply of wood that the fire was kept burning so 
brightly that Mr. Ross, from his elevated position,, 
could see quite a distance into the forest in every 
direction. 

As was anticipated, the attack was made on the 
leeward side with a rush, and with bowlings that 
were blood-curdling the savage beasts in a pack 
rushed forward as though confident of success and 
an easy victory. The newly fallen trees bothered 
them but for a moment as on they rushed. As they 
emerged from them the men began firing at them 
from the point in front of the camp to which they 
had advanced. As the first volley from the ten guns 
rang out a number of wolves fell dead, while others, 
badly wounded, with howls of pain quickly re- 
treated. Mr. Ross could see that they met with no 
sympathy, for, wounded as they were, they had to 
fight for their lives against some of their comrades 
that, having tasted the blood of their wounds, were 
anxious to devour them. 

In the meantime the men with the double-barreled 
guns kept picking off the more venturesome of the 
wolves, while the men with the other guns rapidly 

loaded them. Thus they kept loading and firing 
265 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

until the disheartened survivors drew back beyond 
the range of the light into the darkness of the forest. 
For a time all that was heard were the yelpings 
and snarlings of the wounded and their assailants. 
These discordant cries seemed to amuse Memotas 
very much. 

“Ha, ha !” said he, “you came for beaver, did you ? 
— with perhaps a man or boy or two thrown in ; and 
now you are content to eat your brother wolf’s flesh ! 
You are easily contented, anyway.” 

“Wait, Memotas,” said another Indian; “those 
wolves are not through with us yet, and it is likely 
that we will have a bigger attack from them than 
what we already have had.” 

Quietly calling one of the Indians, who was pos- 
sessed of marvelous powers of vision, up on the 
scaffolding where he was, Mr. Ross called his atten- 
tion to the stealthy movements of the wolves. Keen 
as were the powers of vision possessed by Mr. Ross, 
those of this Indian were much superior, and so he 
at once was able to detect the wolves skulking back 
to a point far in the rear of the camp. Their object 
was to make an attack from that direction. To meet 
this new movement, Mr. Ross withdrew most of the 
men from the front and placed them where they 
would be able to render most effective service. 
About a hundred feet or more behind the camp stood 
a very tall, dead balsam tree. Seizing a large ax, and 
calling another Indian to do likewise, Memotas 
rushed out with his comrade and speedily cut down 
that tree, causing it to fall directly from the camp. 

Then taking his queer-looking rolls of gunpowder 
266 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

in his arms, and slipping his snowshoes on his feet, 
he hurried back to the place where the top of the 
tree now lay upon the ground. This was at the place 
along which the wolves would probably come when 
they again made their attack. Here Memotas care- 
fully arranged his powder-loaded rolls of birch bark, 
and connected the fuses of each with a heavy sprink- 
ling of gunpowder, which reached to the trunk of 
the tree. Then pulling the cork out of a horn full of 
powder, which had been slung on his back, he laid 
a train on the trunk the whole length of the tree. 
Coming into the camp, as he relit his pipe, he coolly 
said to the boys, ‘T think I will give them some 
singed wolf meat as a change after a while.” 

As was anticipated, at this point a number of 
wolves gathered to make the attack. They cum 
ningly kept themselves as much in the shadows of 
the trees as possible, and so were the more difficult 
to hit. However, they never got very near the camp 
until the firing for a time had to be nearly suspended 
owing to the guns becoming too hot from rapid use. 
This was Memotas’s opportunity. Seeing a number 
of wolves, emboldened by the apparent ceasing of 
the firing, coming on with a rush toward the spot 
where he had placed his birch rolls of powder, he 
boldly seized a flaming brand from the fire and 
rushed out to the spot where he had stood when he 
had cut down the tree. As from his position he 
could not very well see the oncoming wolves, he 
waited for Mr. Ross to give him notice when to fire 
his little train of gunpowder. The instant the word 
was given he touched the firebrand to the powder. 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

and at once rushed back to join the other Indians, 
who with their guns were again ready for their foes. 
Some of the wolves, more eager than their comrades, 
had already passed by the mine laid for them, and so 
were a little startled by the spluttering little stream 
of fire that passed them as it made its way along the 
trunk of that tree. Carefully and well had Memotas 
done his work, for soon there was a series of explo- 
sions mingled with yelpings of pain and terror, and 
a number of frightened hairless and wounded wolves 
turned into the forest and were seen no more. A 
forward rush of the men, firing heavily as they ad- 
vanced, completed the work, and that strange battle 
was over. 

There was but little rest or sleep for any of the 
party in the camp during the brief remainder of the 
night. The fires were kept brightly burning, and in 
turns the men with guns loaded kept vigilant watch 
against their treacherous foes. As an extra precau- 
tion a gun was occasionally fired, so that any skulk- 
ing wolf remaining in the neighborhood might know 
that the inhabitants of the camp were on their guard 
and ready to renew the fight if it were necessary. 

As soon as it was broad daylight, escorted by 
some of the Indians fully armed, Mr. Ross and the 
boys went out on a tour around what might be called 
the battle field. They were surprised at not finding 
more dead wolves than they did. They were, how- 
ever, simply disgusted at the many evidences of the 
rank cannibalism of those that had escaped the bul- 
lets. They had without any pity or remorse most 

rapidly devoured the dead and wounded, with the 
268 


IN THE Great Lone Land 


exception of those that had been singed by Memo- 
tas's improvised fireworks. So successful had been 
this explosion, and so accurate the aim of the men, 
that several wolves of different kinds were found 
within a radius of half a mile. Some had been killed 
instantly, and so lay just where they fell. Others, 
mortally wounded, had managed to crawl away quite 
a distance ere they died. But of all those that in any 
way had been singed or burnt by the fire not one had 
been torn or mangled by the survivors. However, 
such had been the effects of the fire upon them that 
their skins were valueless as fur, and so they were 
left undisturbed where they had fallen. 

A good breakfast was ready for them all when 
they returned to the camp. Soon after it was over 
the sleds were again loaded, the dogs harnessed, and 
the journey once more resumed. 

It had been a memorable night for the boys. They 
had remained cool and collected, but alert and watch- 
ful. The conduct of the dogs rather humiliated and 
disappointed them. Why some of them should act 
so cowardly and so tremble at the bowlings of the 
wolves was to them a mystery and an annoyance. 
They, however, stoutly declared that their own 
young trains growled and even barked back their 
defiance when the bowlings of the wolves were most 
severe. At the resting place where they stopped for 
dinner they had quite a discussion on the subject. 
Sam confessed that he had been eager to let the dogs 
loose and then urge them on to the attack. At this 
candid confession Mr. Ross was much amused, and 
said that when a boy, long ago, traveling with his 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

father and some Indians, one night in a camp where 
they were bothered by the bowlings of some wolves 
he, against their advice, urged his own splendid train 
of young dogs to the attack. Only three of them 
managed to get back to the camp, and they were 
in such a wounded, torn condition that they were 
worth but little for weeks. The fourth one had been 
devoured by the wolves. 

“As one result,” added Mr. Ross, “I had to walk 
or run on snowshoes the rest of the long journey 
home, and as it was over a hundred miles I often 
wished I had not been so eager to set my dogs on a 
number of great northern wolves.” 

“What do you think would have happened,” said 
Alec, “if Sam had set the three trains we boys are 
driving on to those wolves that attacked us last 
night ?” 

“I think,” said Mr. Ross, with a bit of a twinkle 
in his eye, “that there would have been seen along 
here somewhere three tired, down-hearted boys 
trudging along on snowshoes and mourning the loss 
of twelve splendid dogs.” 

“Well,” said Frank, “I am glad we did not get up 
a wolf fight, for this is jollier than trudging along 
all day on snowshoes.” 

With a laugh he threw himself on his dog-sled, 
and then with a cheer he was first off on the trail 
of the guide. Quickly the rest followed, and the 
journey was resumed. 

When the journey was ended, and in after days 
as various incidents of this eventful trip were being 

discussed, the boys were loth to have to believe that 
270 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

it was running a big risk to allow sleigh dogs to 
attack wolves. 

“What about bears said Sam. 

“There is not one quarter the risk run by dogs in 
attacking bears that there is when they venture to 
assail wolves,” said Mr. Ross. “These big wolves 
of the North are generally in a half-starved condi- 
tion. When attacked they seem to know that it is 
for their very life they are fighting, and so they use 
their long, sharp teeth and powerful jaws with the 
greatest ferocity imaginable. Bears, on the con- 
trary, fight in an entirely different way. When they 
are assailed by dogs they very seldom if ever fasten 
on them with their teeth as do the more vicious 
wolves. Their one great effort in the conflict is to 
seize hold of the dogs. If they can once get them 
in the grip of their long, strong, muscular forearms 
— well, one hug is all the most powerful dog requires 
to use him up for that day. Fortunate is he if he is 
not killed b}^ the fearful squeezing he has received. 
Dogs seem, by some sort of instinct, to very quickly 
find out where their danger is, and so, unless they 
are young and inexperienced, they will fight shy of 
getting within the reach of those strong forearms 
that can give such an unlovely hug.” 

“How do the clever, experienced dogs attack 
bears ?” asked Alec. 

“I am in hopes,” said Mr. Ross, “that before many 
more months you will be able to see for yourselves, 
but as there is much uncertainty about all these 
things, I will try and describe a battle we had not a 

mile away from Sagasta-weekee a couple of years 
271 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

ago. We had brought some young pigs out from 
the Selkirk country, and had them well housed in a 
warm pen, around which was erected a high, strong 
stockade. We knew that bears were fond of pork, 
and were also aware of the fact that they were good 
climbers, but with all our experience of them we 
never imagined that they would attempt to scale that 
high stockade and try to steal our pigs. But they 
did, and with a certain measure of success. Without 
alarming the dogs, or even any of the several Indians 
about the place, they succeeded in climbing over that 
high stockade, and each bear — for there were three 
of them — grabbed a pig, each one weighing perhaps 
fifty pounds, and succeeded in getting back over the 
stockade and off for the woods ere the loud squeal- 
ings of the frightened young porkers gave them 
away. Of course, we were instantly aroused by these 
unusual noises, and at once suspecting the cause, I 
gave instant orders that the dogs that were at home 
should be immediately let out of their kennels and 
put on to the trail of the bears. As soon as possible 
a number of us quickly followed. Fortunately for 
us, the morning had so advanced that there was suf- 
ficient light for us to see our way. We had no 
trouble in reference to the direction in which to go, 
as the squealings of the pigs and the excited bark- 
ings of the dogs were quite sufficient to guide us. 
When we reached them we beheld a sight that made 
the most stoical of my Indians laugh. Here we 
found the three bears brought to bay. Each one of 
them was bravely holding in one forearm, as a 

mother does a child, one of the stolen pigs, while 
272 



The Bear Still Holding On to His Pig, 











N; ■ - 


?v 


^ .V- 


• » • * • 5 «• i » W » • * , ^ 

^rK-'-A- 4A-v^A. ^'•^ '- ;^/A-;.^:i:5, ’ jj;ami 



IN THE Great Lone Land 

with his other forepaw he was giving resounding 
whacks to every dog that was rash enough to come 
within range. My largest sleigh dogs were still out 
with Kinesasis at their summer home, and so the 
bears were more able to repel the attacks of these 
much smaller ones. Still there were some plucky 
ones among the dozen or so in this pack, and they 
knew how to fight bears when they had them on the 
run. But they were bothered to know what to do 
with these big fellows, sitting here with their backs 
against a tree and a noisy pig in one forearm while 
they used the other like a terrible boxer. 

‘‘From a distance we watched for a time the pecu- 
liar conflict, and perhaps would have done so longer 
if it had not been that we saw one of my pet dogs, 
a very courageous little fellow, make a too venture- 
some rush and get within the sweep of that great 
arm. Suddenly the bear dragged him in, and al- 
though the plucky fellow tried to use his teeth, it was 
of no use. The bear hugged him to himself with 
such a crushing grip that the poor dog’s ribs were 
broken like clay pipestems. Then suddenly the dog 
was flung quite a distance to one side. 

“We did not want to see any more valuable dogs 
thus treated, and so we at once pushed forward. 
When the alert bears saw us approaching they at 
once started for the distant woods. Now the ad- 
vantage was all with the dogs. It was very comical 
to see the desperate efforts made by those bears to 
hold on to those pigs, and also to fight the dogs and 
to keep up their retreat. Experienced dogs know 
that the tenderest spot in a bear is the tendon of his 

1 8 273 


.Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

hind leg, and so that is where they try to seize hold 
of him. Two clever dogs are all that are necessary 
to delay until the hunters come up the largest black 
bears in our country. It does not depend very much 
on the size of the dogs. Indeed, large dogs are 
rather at a disadvantage, as it is harder for them to 
get out of the range of the bear when he turns upon 
them. In this fight all my dogs did was to assail 
each bear in front and rear. While the dog in front 
kept up a vigorous barking as close to his nose as it 
was safe to venture, the dog in the rear, watching his 
opportunity, sprang in and gave him a severe nip in 
the tender spot in his hind leg. This, of course, 
could not be put up with, and so the bear, still hold- 
ing on to his pig, quickly whirled around to repel 
this second assailant. The instant he did so the 
clever dog that had been in front, but was now in the 
rear, instantly sprang in and caught the bear in the 
same tender spot. This, of course, brought the bear 
back again to him, but he was too clever to hang on, 
and having done his work he quickly sprang out of 
the reach of those dreaded paws. Seeing the bear 
once more turned from him, the other dog again 
dashed in and gave him another severe bite in the 
same place. Thus it was that the dogs, while not 
daring to close with such large bears, were yet able 
to keep them from escaping until we came up and 
shot them.” 

‘AVhat about the pigs?” said Frank. 

‘‘They were alive, and not much the worse for 
their queer adventure, although for some days they 

seemed dull and sore,” was the reply. 

274 


IN THE Great Lone Land 


CHAPTER XX. 

A Bear Hunt in Winter — Mustagan a Famous Indian Guide 
— Bears’ Den — How Discovered — Boys’ Perplexity — The 
Journey to the Den — A Cold Morning — The Telltale Column 
of Steam — The Attempt to Dig Down to the Bears — Total 
Failure — Successful Tunneling Operations — Exciting Fight in 
the Icy Cavern — The Battles Between the Men and Dogs and 
the Escaping Bears. 

A BEAR hunt in winter! No wonder the boys 
were excited when they heard of it. Yes, that was 
what it was, and a very interesting one at that. 

Mustagan was a famous hunter, as we have al- 
ready seen. In addition to that, he was a wonderful 
guide, and had also been a great traveler. He had 
gone several times on great expeditions to the Arc- 
tic Ocean. He was with Sir John Richardson on his 
memorable search for Sir John Franklin. He had 
also gone with Dr. Rae and others on similar Arctic 
exploring trips. Then this Mustagan was the old 
Cree Indian who found the silver spoons and other 
remains of Sir John Franklin among the Eskimos. 
Their recovery gave the fkial definite knowledge of 
the tragic ending of that memorable expedition. 
These relics of that sad expedition, in which about 
a hundred and forty of the bravest of men perished, 
some of whom might have been saved if Paulette 
had been true, are now in the Greenwich Museum. 

But although Mustagan had been long years thus 

employed he was yet in the full vigor of life, and as 
275 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

a hunter was unexcelled. He was, like Big Tom, 
particularly noted for his skill as a moose hunter, 
and it was when out on the tracks of a moose that he 
made the singular discovery that led to this bear 
hunt in winter. When he came over to Sagasta- 
weekee with the news that he had some rare sport 
for the boys they were, of course, full of curiosity 
to get all the information. 

During the previous summer they had all had 
their peculiar experiences in bear fights, but this 
finding of bears in winter was a revelation, as they 
were always taught that the bears, especially in cold 
countries, hibernate during the winter; that is, that 
they den up in some quiet retreat in the rocks, if 
possible, and there remain in a semi-unconscious 
condition for months together. They generally go 
in very fat, and on this fat they keep alive all winter. 

‘Ts it true,” said Sam to Mustagan, “that a bear 
sucks his paws like a baby does his thumb?” 

“That is what is believed by the Indians,” said the 
old man. “But,” he added, with a bit of a twinkle in 
his eye, “I don’t remember any one of us ever having 
sat up to watch one doing it.” 

“How in the world did you find out where this 
bear’s den is which you are inviting us to see?” said 
Alec. 

“Perhaps,” said Frank, “he marked it in the fall, 
like other Indians mark their beavers’ houses.” 

“No, indeed,” said Mustagan. “I never thought 
of one being in that place until I found it by the 
steam.” 

Here was a bigger mystery than ever. 

276 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

‘'Steam !” said Sam ; “and where was the engine?” 

“Down deep under the snow in a den among the 
rocks,” was the answer given. 

This did not clear up the mystery, but rather 
added to their curiosity. 

“How far away is it?” asked Mr. Ross. 

“One day’s journey,” said Mustagan. 

So it was decided that on the following Tuesday, 
if the weather continued bright and fine, the start 
would be made very early from Sagasta-weekee. 

“No use going then,” said Memotas, “if the days 
are not bright and cold. No see any steam if no 
sunshine.” 

This was a great perplexity to the boys, and they 
appealed to Mr. Ross to help them out. But he 
wished them to have the real surprise that Mustagan 
had in store for them, and so he told them to wait 
until they could see it for themselves, when on the 
ground. 

The weather was everything that could be desired. 
On Monday four trains of dogs, with a full camping 
outfit and plenty of supplies to last for five or six 
days, were prepared. The boyS took their guns 
along with them and plenty of ammunition. They 
were going to have their share of shooting if there 
was any to be done. Mustagan, with a couple of his 
sons and two dog-sleds, arrived very early, and the 
whole party started while the stars were still shin- 
ing. One of Mustagan’s sons, who had been with 
the old man when the den was discovered, ran on 
ahead of the trains as guide. As the trail had been 
made by Mustagan and his son when they returned 
277 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

after the discovery of the bears, this made the travel- 
ing more rapid and agreeable. 

Three or four times during the day’s journey they 
stopped, and cutting down some dry trees made up a 
big roaring fire, at which they warmed themselves 
and cooked a hearty meal. About an hour before 
sundown they reached the place. As it was too late 
to do anything that evening in the way of bear 
hunting, it was decided to make the camp and have 
a good night’s rest. This was not as easy a matter 
as it had been in some other places. There was not 
at any one spot sufficient dry wood for a good camp, 
especially if they should be attacked by wolves and 
thus require for their safety a good bright fire all 
night. However, the matter was arranged by mak- 
ing the dogs help. They were unfastened from their 
sleds, and while some of the men cut down the dry 
trees, wherever they could be found, the boys and 
one or two men hitched their dogs to them and 
dragged them to the vicinity of the camp, where 
they were speedily cut up into the desired lengths. 
There were numbers of green balsams around, and 
so some of these were cut down and so arranged as 
to be helpful in keeping off the cold winds. The 
frozen fish were thawed for the dogs, and then some 
of the men prepared the usual supper, which con- 
sisted of the fattest meat that could be obtained. 
Prayers were offered after the Evening Hymn had 
been sung, the beds of fur robes and blankets were 
made, and Mr. Ross and the boys were soon very 
thoroughly tucked in. Nothing unusual disturbed 

them in the night, although some of the men had an 
278 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

uneasy half hour, as the dismal bowlings of a soli- 
tary wolf in the distance could be distinctly heard. 
The mournful sounds at length died away, and the 
men again went to sleep. 

As they were retiring Mustagan told the boys that 
the steam would be going best just after sunrise, and 
so they had better all be up early and after a good 
warm cup of tea and something to eat be off to see 
it and then return to breakfast. Then he said, “After 
that we will find out what makes the steam.” 

There was only the faintest glimmer of the com- 
ing dawn when the boys were called up. My, but it 
was cold that morning! How the lads did shiver! 
Wistfully they looked back at the warm robes and 
blankets which the men were rapidly rolling up. 
Gladly would they have tumbled under them again, 
the cold was so terrible. It must have been at least 
fifty below zero. It seemed to chill them to the very 
marrow of their bones. Their teeth chattered. The 
tears in their eyes froze into ice. The breath touch- 
ing their fur caps, or capotes, instantly became white 
and shining. Well was it for them that the fire was 
brightly burning ere they were called. Speedily 
were seats of rolls of blankets prepared for them, 
and here, with a big buffalo skin thrown around each 
one as an additional protection, they were seated as 
close to the fire as it was possible to get without set- 
ting their clothes or robes on fire. How warming 
and delicious was the tea that morning ! — well 
sweetened, and with a lump of cream in it. Cup 
after cup was taken, and soon the bitter cold was 
forgotten. 


279 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

‘Wery cold morning,” said Mustagan. “Take 
good breakfast now, then another good one will be 
ready when we come back from seeing the steam.” 

With all the clothing that could well be worn con- 
sistent with rapid snowshoeing the party soon set 
off. Their direction from the camp was due south. 
As far as the boys could make out the region was 
full of great rocky ravines. But the snow covered 
everything, and it was evident that the high winds 
had caused enormous quantities to drift into the 
hollows and ravines. Mr. Ross and Mustagan were 
in front, while the boys and some Indians were not 
far behind. All at once Mustagan, who had been 
on the alert, called Mr. Ross’s attention to an object 
which at first was to him more imaginary than real. 
Sharp as were his eyes, he was asked to look upon 
what to him was at present invisible and intangible. 
The party had all now stopped, and each one was 
endeavoring to see what already seemed so real to 
Mustagan. 

“O, I see it!” shouted Alec and Sam together. 
“See, as the sun’s rays fall upon it, it shines like a 
small bit of a rainbow.” 

“Yes,” said Frank, “I see it, like a thin column of 
steam lit up by the morning sun.” 

Then it was visible to all. For as the sun arose a 
little higher, and its full rays fell on it, at the right 
angle to the spot where our party now stood, there it 
was, clear and distinct, a tiny spiral column of steam 
rising up in the clear cold air from a great snowy 
expanse. There was not a sign of a tree or of a den. 
Then Mustagan explained that there was a deep 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

ravine full of the snow, and at the bottom of it some 
bears had made their winter’s nest in the fall. 
Whether they had much of a den or not he did not 
know. They would find that out when they dug 
them out. Anyway, here they were under many 
feet of snow. The breathing caused the snow to 
melt around them and above them, until it formed 
an icy crystal roof. Then, as they went on breathing 
and breathing, by and by in a little opening it found 
its way through the crust and through the fine snow, 
until it made a small chimney all the way up to the 
top; and then he added, “There it comes out, as you 
see it now.” 

Carefully they all walked up to the spot. The 
opening was not more than an inch in diameter. It 
was hardly perceptible. The little bit of steam froze 
into the tiniest particles of ice, which were invisible 
except when the sun’s bright rays shone on them. 
It was a great curiosity to the boys. “How many 
feet below us are the bears ?” asked Sam, in tones so 
subdued that everybody laughed. But the fact that 
only a lot of light snow separated him from he knew 
not how many savage bears had a tendency to make 
him a little nervous, and hence his whispered ques- 
tion. Glancing over the landscape, and taking notice 
of the hills in the distance and the amount of country 
that the storm had swept over, Mustagan and Mr. 
Ross came to the conclusion that between twenty 
and thirty feet of snow were between them and the 
icy cave where these bears were drowsily sleeping 
away the long winter months. After some further 
investigation, and a talk about the best way of get- 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

ting down to those bears, the party returned to camp 
for breakfast. 

The snowshoe run back was a vigorous one, and 
enjoyed on account of the cold. The second breakfast 
was dispatched, and the plans talked over for getting 
down to the bears. If the snow should be found 
light and dry quite a distance down it would be im- 
possible to dig a well-like hole down to them. If 
tlie wind had packed the snow hard as it filled up the 
ravine it would be an easy matter. If it were found 
impracticable to get to them that way, then they 
would have to tunnel in from below, in the valley, 
until they reached them. A tunnel can always be 
dug in deep snow, as the pressure of the mass above 
sufficiently hardens the snow near the ground to 
make it quite possible to accomplish the work. Thus 
they discussed various plans, and then decided to go 
and begin operations on what seemed the best way 
when they reached the spot. 

Axes, ropes, a big baglike bucket for hauling up 
snow, snowshovels, and other things considered 
necessary were taken along on a couple of dog-trains 
to the spot where the steam was quite visible, now that 
it had been discovered. After some consultation it 
was decided to go to a cluster of trees not far off and 
cut down a number of them and build a kind of plat- 
form on the snow directly over the steam orifice, and 
then commence the work of digging down to the den 
below. 

Soon all were busy. The men cut down the trees, 
and the boys claimed the honor of driving the dogs 

that dragged the logs to the place where they were 
282 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

to be used. As the snow over the bears’ den was so 
very deep the boys had to keep on their snowshoes 
all the time. It was very difficult at first for the dogs 
to get along, but after the snowshoes had tramped 
out the trail a few times the snow then easily held 
them up. 

The log platform was built, and in the large space 
left cleared in the center, which was about eight feet 
square, the work of digging was commenced. When 
all the snow was thrown out that could be reached 
with the long-handled snowshovels a rude windlass 
was made, and then the leather baglike bucket was 
brought into requisition, and the work went on as 
fast as it was possible to haul up the snow and have 
it dragged away on the dog-sleds. When the well- 
like hole was down about fifteen feet, and they were 
congratulating themselves that at least half of the 
work was accomplished, there was a sudden collapse. 
The whole thing had caved in and carried down the 
platform and all to a distance of eight or ten feet. 
Nobody was badly hurt. The two men who were in 
the bottom at the time, busily filling up the leather 
bucket, were hit with some of the falling logs and 
nearly buried in the avalanche of snow that seemed 
to them to come from every quarter above them. 
Those who had tumbled in were more scared than 
hurt. The difficulty now was to get the men out, as 
the sides were so light and yielding. 

“Use the dogs to do it,” said Frank. And quickly 
a strong rope was tied to an empty sled and it was 
let down to the first man. A strong dog-train was 

attached to the other end of the rope. 

283 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

‘‘Marche!” was shouted, and away went the dogs, 
and soon there emerged one of the men who had 
fallen in. Quickly was he rescued, aftd speedily this 
operation was repeated until the dogs had dragged 
out all therein imprisoned. 

All this work had gone for nothing. Some other 
plan must be devised. Half a day’s work gone and 
nothing to show for it. This was rather discour- 
aging. 

“What is to be tried next?” was asked by several. 

“Dinner is next,” said Mr. Ross. And so away 
they hurried back to camp, and there while eating 
their well-earned meal they talked over the next at- 
tempt, and decided to go down where the ravine 
ended out on a level place and there begin tunneling. 

When they came back and examined the spot and 
measured the drift they found that in order to get 
low enough to reach the bears they would have to 
tunnel at least two hundred feet. This meant a lot 
of heavy work. But they were there to get those 
bears, and were bound to succeed. At first they dug 
away the snow like a deep trench, until they reached 
a place where it was too deep to be thrown out, and 
then the work of tunneling really began. To their 
delight, they found when they had gone some way 
in that the pressure of the immense mass of snow 
upon the lower portion had so packed it that it would 
not require supports, as has already been referred 
to. 

They worked in relays with their big shovels, and 
cut the snow out in great pieces, which were dragged 

away by the dogs as fast as the sleds could be loaded. 

284 


IN THE Great Lone Land 


That evening, when they stopped work, they esti- 
mated that they had cut about half the way into the 
bears’ den. Then they returned to the camp for 
supper and rest, and hoped to be able to finish their 
work on the morrow. 

That night there was a most beautiful display of 
the aurora borealis. Their ever-changing glories 
delighted and so fascinated the boys that they were 
loth to cover up their heads in their camp beds. 
These wondrous visions in the North Land exceed 
in weird beauty anything else that this wide world 
can show. 

Mr. Ross was so anxious that they should get the 
bears to-day, so that the whole party could begin 
the return journey to-morrow, that he had them all 
up at such an early hour that they were eating break- 
fast by starlight. Just as the sun rose, and the In- 
dians were calling, ^‘Sagastao! Sagastao!” (“The 
sun rises!”) to each other, they were already at the 
tunnel, anxious to resume operations. They had to 
be careful now to so run the tunnel that they would 
directly strike the bears. So while the men were 
digging Mr. Ross and Mustagan were constantly 
traveling on their snowshoes with a compass to try 
and help the diggers, who were rapidly pushing on 
their work. 

The boys could hardly understand how it was that 
it could be so cozy and comfortable in the tunnel 
while outside the cold was so terrible. To their sur- 
prise, they here learned that there was warmth even 
in a snow tunnel. While thus digging away and 
dragging out the loads, all at once the dogs became 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

very much excited, and began barking furiously. 
Suspecting that it was because of the scent of the 
bears, which passes a long distance through the 
snow, the guns and some axes were immediately sent 
for. 

‘‘Did you ever shoot a bear?’’ said Mustagan to 
Sam. 

“I was chased by one once,” said Sam, with a 
laugh. “But I fancy I got even with him before the 
summer ended.” 

“O yes,” said Mustagan, with a comical grin, “I do 
remember now a boy coming running into the camp 
with a bear at his heels. That’s why your hair stands 
up so straight ever since.” 

Poor Sam, whose hair had a natural tendency to 
stand on ends, said he thought he had heard enough 
of that bear story of his, and so was about blaming 
the old Indian for being too hard on him, when he 
was astonished at hearing him say : 

“I want you to be the first to walk into that bears’ 
den with me. Mr. Bear chased you once. You 
killed some of his relatives since then, but he has 
lots of brothers, and perhaps some of them are in 
this den, and so now is your chance to teach them a 
lesson for one of their relatives making your hair 
stand up straight. Fact is,” added the old Indian, 
who had never seen a person with his hair standing 
up like Sam’s, “Indian thinks you will have to keep 
killing bears until your hair gets over its scare and 
lies down flat again.” 

This bit of humor from Mustagan amused every- 
body, and Sam himself joined heartily in the laugh. 

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IN THE Great Lone Land 

Thus they chatted until the guns and axes arrived. 
Then the work was vigorously pursued. The tunnel 
was dug in further and further, as fast as the snow 
could be hauled out. Every time the dogs came in 
with their empty sleds they were permitted to remain 
a few minutes to scent the bears. As they had 
quieted down after their first noisy actions it was 
decided that they were still a good way off from the 
bears. 

As a precautionary measure Memotas went out 
and cut a long, slim pole, which was about twenty 
feet long. This he pushed in through the snow 
ahead of the diggers. By this plan he was able to 
guard against any surprise, for he had stated to Mr. 
Ross that as the snow was so deep the den would be 
found very warm, and he would not be surprised if 
they found the bears so wide-awake that they would 
have a bit of a fight with them ere they killed them. 
When this was heard it added much to the excite- 
ment of the whole party, and so while everyone 
worked with a will they were all on the alert for 
some sudden developments. 

After Mustagan had pushed in the pole two or 
three times and found nothing but the ordinary 
snow, which was being rapidly dug away, he at 
length struck against something hard, which was 
about fifteen feet in from the end of the now long 
tunnel. When the dogs came in for their last loads 
Mustagan pulled out the pole and let the dogs put 
their noses to the opening. They were simply furi- 
ous, and at once began most vigorously to dig into 

the snow around the hole. Of course, they were 
287 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

quickly stopped and again fastened to the sleds, 
which on account of the narrowness of the tunnel 
had to be backed in. Cautiously they worked, and 
soon were within only four or five feet of the ob- 
struction, whatever it was, that prevented the pole 
being pushed along any further. 

A consultation was now held, and it was decided 
to very much enlarge the end of the tunnel, so that if 
there was to be much of a fight there would be room 
enough for the men to stand up and easily move 
around. This enlarging the tunnel and getting out 
the snow consumed the best part of an hour. For- 
tunately, it was not very dark, although they were 
so far from daylight in any direction. The pure 
white snow seems to throw off a certain amount of 
light. However, it was warm work, and so the men 
frequently went out with the dogs in relays. Once 
outside they quickly cooled off and were glad to re- 
turn. When the enlargement of the tunnel was 
about completed, and the men were again engaged 
in cutting out great blocks of the snow that was 
between them and the bears, there suddenly reached 
them a perfume so strong as to be almost sickening. 
No need of telling anyone who has ever been near a 
close old bears’ den where they were now. 

All the shovels except a couple were quickly 
dropped, and the weapons were seized by those who 
were expected to do the fighting. The arrangements 
were speedily made. It was difficult to say how. 
many bears were in the den. If only two or three, 
there would not be much trouble in killing them, but 

if, as sometimes happened, a number had clubbed 
288 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

together, there might be as many as eight or ten, and 
if so there would be lots of excitement, and perhaps 
somebody might get hurt. So it was decided that 
Mr. Ross with Frank and Alec should go out to the 
mouth of the tunnel, and there with their weapons 
remain, with the dogs unharnessed, and wait for 
developments, while Mustagan with Sam and the 
others would face them in their dens. If any tried 
to escape through the tunnel those watching at the 
mouth would fire at them or run them down with the 
dogs. 

Cautiously the intervening wall of snow was 
broken down and trampled under foot. Listen! 
There are low growlings heard, and it is evident that 
the bears are on the alert. These sounds show that 
the bears have long been hearing the noise made by 
the approach of the tunnelers, and are getting their 
courage up for a fight with the disturbers of their 
long repose. Mustagan had taken the precaution to 
bring along some torches which he had specially 
made. The principal materials of them were rolls of 
birch bark saturated in balsam gum. The gum had 
been boiled down and otherwise so prepared that 
when ignited it made a most brilliant light and yet 
emitted but little smoke. At length the diggers 
came to a wall of icy snow, which was very close and 
hard. This was the wall and roof of the whole den. 
The party attentively listened, and now the bears 
were easily heard. Mustagan said : 

‘‘Some of them wide-awake, others seem like 
sleepy boys called early. They are growling and 
snarling, and seem to say, ‘Be quiet and let us sleep 
19 289 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

till it is time to get up/ We’ll wake you so you will 
want to get up in a hurry,” added the old man with 
a chuckle, as he made his final arrangements. 

These were as follows: The men who had been 
using the shovels were ordered to exchange them for 
their heavy axes. With these they were to at once 
smash in a place large enough for Mustagan and 
Sam to step through. They would each have one of 
the brightest torches, and so the old man believed 
that the sleeping animals would crowd from the be- 
wildering light to the other side of the den. So the 
flint and steel were struck and a light made by one 
of them, while the axmen now vigorously broke 
through the thin glassy wall. 

Soon an opening sufficiently large was made, and 
the old Indian and Sam fearlessly stepped in, with 
guns and torches. As anticipated by Mustagan, the 
bears, frightened by the brilliant torches, at once 
crowded away from the dazzling flames. So he and 
Sam were safely in, but it did not take him long to 
see that they were not altogether safe in there. My, 
what a crowd of them ! and bears of all sizes too. 

‘'Chop away at the ice,” was Mustagan’s first 
command, as he and Sam kept slowly edging their 
way around. So numerous were the bears that they 
dare not think of letting go their splendid torches 
that were burning brightly. 

“We are going to try and drive them out,” were 
his next words; and then the old Indian shouted, 
“Look out, men, and be ready for them !” 

Sam was cool and collected, for he had all con- 
fidence in Mustagan, but he could not help being 
290 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

startled and surprised at the number of the bears that 
lay there snarling and growling like a drove of pigs. 
The size and beauty of the winter house was also a 
revelation. As the winter had advanced the warmth 
of the bears had caused the icy walls and roof to keep 
slowly receding, until now here was a capacious 
vaultlike room of clearest crystal. As the brilliant 
light flashed on it, it seemed like some dream of fairy- 
land. One look, however, at the startled, growling 
bears showed that the fierce occupants were anything 
but nymphs and fairies. Seeing their numbers, 
Mustagan quickly called in a couple more men, with 
axes and additional torches. Pointing out a very 
large one that seemed ready to begin battle at any 
moment, he said, ^‘You, Sam, you shoot him fair 
between the eyes.’' 

Sam at once obeyed. Tremendous was the effect. 
So confined was the place that the sound was as 
though a cannon had been fired. All the torches 
were instantly extinguished but one, and the ice 
cracked and fell in great pieces around them. Speed- 
ily were the torches relighted. The bears were wide- 
awake now. Fortunately, the biggest and fiercest 
was stone dead. Sam’s aim had been sure, and his 
bullet had done its work. Mustagan was now so 
fiercely attacked by the next largest one that he could 
not bring up his gun to his shoulder, but he skillfully 
fired from his side and sent a bullet into the heart of 
his assailant. This cjuickly finished him. This 
second report was, if possible, worse than the first, 
and so some seconds were lost in relighting the 
torches. 


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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

''Drop your guns/’ said Mustagan, "and fight 
with your axes and knives.” 

And fight they had to, for the bears were now 
full of fight and each went for an opponent. Sam 
bravely tackled a fine two-year-old with his ax. He 
raised it and made a desperate blow to try and split 
the animal’s skull open. But just as he plunged for- 
ward to strike the bear suddenly rose up and with a 
side blow struck the ax such a clip that it fairly flew 
out of Sam’s hands, while the lad, unable to keep his 
footing, stumbled forward at the bear’s hind feet. 
He was fortunately able to reach sideways and seize 
one of the flaming torches that had been thrown on 
the ground, and which was still fiercely burning. 
He was none too soon, for already the bear’s strong 
forearms were winding round him for a hug that 
he would have long remembered. However, as the 
blazing torch was pushed into the bear’s face it so 
suddenly singed his handsome whiskers that he had 
to throw up his paws to defend his face. Finding 
himself thus free again, Sam was quickly on his feet. 
Drawing his knife, he was able to look around. Two 
or three bears were killed and others wounded, but 
so carefully were they using their paws in parrying 
the blows of the men that they were fairly holding 
their own. One man had a shoulder blade broken, 
and another’s crushed ribs were making him groan. 

"Let us drive them out,” said Mustagan, and al- 
ready it was evident that the bears’ quick instinct 
had enabled them to catch the scent of the fresh air 
through the tunnel. 

"Run for your lives!” shouted Mustagan to the 
292 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

two men who had been left in the tunnel, “and tell 
Mr. Ross and the boys to be ready at the mouth to 
receive them.” 

They lost no time in getting out, for they were 
about half blinded and suffocated by the smoke of 
the guns and could render but little service. They 
were soon out, and found Mr. Ross and the boys 
ready for the bears. All were much excited, for they 
had distinctly heard the two shots fired inside. 

Mustagan, Sam, and the Indians had now wedged 
themselves so around the bears that they had them 
all between them and the opening into the tunnel. 
The cunning animals were loth to leave their winter 
quarters, and so they very slowly and reluctantly 
gave ground as Mustagan and the others, with their 
flaming torches, gradually forced them on ahead. 
It would now have been easy to have shot some of 
them, but Mustagan was afraid that as so much of the 
ice had fallen already from the roof of the den a few 
more such reports might find them all buried under 
the great mass above them. So he decided to drive 
the bears out into the open air, where the fight could 
be renewed. 

At the great opening in the crystal wall the bears 
made a determined stand. There were still seven or 
eight of them unwounded. There they raised them- 
selves upon their hind feet against the opening, and 
seemed to say, “We will not be thus driven out of 
our house.” Beyond this point it seemed impossible 
to drive them. The torches would not burn much 
longer, and something desperate had to be done. 
Mustagan, while fearful of the effects of a powder 
293 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

explosion on the roof, yet resolved to try one. Skill- 
fully throwing some powder in handfuls at the feet 
of the bears, he said to Sam and to the men : 

‘‘Get back as far as possible, before I fire this train 
of powder. Pull your caps over your eyes, and put 
your heads to the ground.” 

Then he plunged one of the torches into the little 
train of gunpowder that reached from him to the 
bears. Away flew the little stream of fire across the 
den, and then there was a commotion. The powder 
went off in sheets and tongues. The bears went off 
also. They did not stand on ceremony now. They 
could not stand such a fiery house, and so they 
wanted to get out of it as quickly as possible. With 
growls and snarls away they hurried, while Musta- 
gan and Sam and the rest, with the expiring torches 
and noisy yells, followed quickly after, keeping them 
on the move. Mr. Ross and the others heard them 
coming. They had wisely retired a little from the 
mouth of the tunnel, so as to let the bears get well 
out before they should catch sight of these new as- 
sailants. At the mouth of the tunnel, as they caught 
the cold air, so different from the comfortable quar- 
ters they had left, there was a decided desire on the 
part of the bears to retrace their steps, but that hor- 
rid din and those blazing torches were just behind, 
and so they made a break for the distant forest, 
which was quite visible across the snowy waste. 

“Fire now !” was the cry. And the guns of Mr. 
Ross, Alec, and Frank rang out, and a couple of bears 
tumbled over, one of which quickly regained his feet 

and was off after his comrades. Unfortunately, the 
294 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

man holding the six dogs that had been unharnessed 
could no longer restrain them, and so they were off 
after the bears. This was a great annoyance to the 
men who had guns and were now emerging from the 
tunnel. They dare not now fire at the bears, for fear 
of hurting the dogs. The snow on the open plain 
was not more than a foot deep, and so the bears, as 
well as the dogs, could make very good speed. 
Some time was lost ere the men and boys could get 
their snowshoes on and take up the chase. It was 
a great fight. Some foolish dog would close in on a 
bear and would get a hug that sent him howling 
back. Others were wiser and went in pairs. When 
they overtook a bear they immediately separated, 
one rushing to the front, while the other remained 
behind. Thus they keep at him and, as a general 
thing, so thoroughly engage his attention that the 
hunter can come up and shoot him at his leisure. 
In this way Frank and Alec were each able to get a 
shot at a couple of bears, which they easily killed 
without any great risk to themselves. 

A single dog has hardly any chance with a large 
bear, as one of Frank’s train found to his cost. 
Pluckily he rushed in and made a gallant effort to 
seize the bear by the throat, but the powerful fore- 
arms gave him a hug so terrible that he was so 
crushed that he had to be shot to be put out of mis- 
ery. His ribs were found broken like clay pipestems. 
Poor Frank dropped a few honest tears over Swag’s 
grave, which was only a hole in the deep snow. 
This death was the first break in any of the boys’ 

teams, and although another fine dog took poor 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

Swag’s place, it was long before the boys ceased 
talking about him and his sad end. 

Some of the fleeter bears succeeded in reaching 
the trees, but they made there in the bitter cold but 
a sorry fight, and were soon all killed. 

For the first time almost for hours, now that the 
last bear was killed, one and all began to feel the 
terrible cold, and no wonder. Such had been the 
excitement of the last few hours that they had not 
noticed that it was long past the dinner hour, and 
when eating is neglected in such a temperature much 
suffering will quickly follow. So the cry was, “Back 
to the camp!” No second order was necessary, and 
great was the delight of the boys to find that some 
one more level-headed and less excited had long 
since returned and had a bountiful dinner awaiting 
everyone. 

It was too late to return home that day, and so a 
swift runner was sent back for additional sleds, while 
the men, under Mustagan’s guidance, with the dogs 
available — and they were not many — dragged the 
bears to the camp, and there during the evening and 
night carefully skinned them and cut up the meat. 

Mr. Ross and the boys, who were thoroughly 
tired, wrapped themselves well up in their robes and 
rested in the camp, feeling that they had had enough 
excitement for that day. This unique experience of 
bear-hunting in the depth of winter was often talked 
about in after years. Many skeptics scoffed at it as 
a dream, but they who were in it knew better. 

Frank never forgot poor Swag’s sad end, and for 

long days he mourned the loss of his faithful dog. 

296 


IN THE Great Lone Land 


CHAPTER XXL 

The First Signs of Spring — The Eagle Moon — Expressive 
Indian Names for Some of the Months — Chats Among the 
Boys About the Phenomena of the North Land — Power of the 
Frost — Cunning of Animals — Cleverness of the Guides — Invi- 
tation to a Muskrat Hunt — Gladly Accepted — Habits of These 
Little Animals — Methods of Capture — Their Many Foes — The 
Queer Battle Between Wild Cats and Wolverines. 

Thus rapidly and pleasantly passed the winter 
months at Sagasta-weekee. Cold they were, and at 
times the blizzards had howled around, but as a 
general thing the days had been full of sunshine 
and the nights of wondrous beauty. Wretched days 
of fogs and mists and damps were almost unknown. 
The air at all times was full of ozone, and knew no 
taint of fever or malaria. There was a luxury in 
living where the skies were nearly always bright 
and the air was always absolutely pure. 

For long months the Frost King had reigned 
supreme, but now there were indications that his 
grip was lessening and that his power was coming to 
an end. In sunny, sheltered spots the snow began to 
soften and then to disappear. Then tiny little rivu- 
lets in the warmest hours of the day began to make 
sweet music, gathering strength and courage and 
hurrving on to pla.y hide and seek as they dashed 
under the great icy coverings of the still frozen 
lakes. Strong south winds blew frequently, and 

under their magic influences the great snowdrifts 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

rapidly lessened and then disappeared. From un- 
derneath the still hard, dry snow some mysterious 
melting influence was at work, and the great masses 
sank down and soon all flitted away under the 
wondrous but unseen influences of the coming 
spring. 

^T saw a great golden eagle,” said Alec, as one 
day he came in from a short hunting trip with Big 
Tom. 

“Did you see it first?” said Sam. 

“No, indeed,” replied Alec; “Big Tom’s eyes 
were more alert, and so he first saw it and then 
pointed it out to me as it was flying in graceful 
circles far up in the blue heavens.” 

“The Indians will be all saying that spring indeed 
has come,” said Mr. Ross. “As the appearance of 
the eagle is, as I think I told you, the beginning of 
spring, Mikisewpesim, the eagle moon, is the first 
spring month.” 

“Is it not,” said Frank, “a very uncertain way of 
marking the seasons?” 

“The variation is not as great as a person would 
at first imagine,” was Mr. Ross’s reply. “We talk 
about an early spring or a late spring, and March 
with us is sometimes like April. Then some other 
years it is just the reverse. So the Indians’ methods 
of marking the months by the arrival of the birds, 
or other events in nature, is not generally much out 
of the way.” 

“What birds follow the eagles?” asked Sam. 

“The wild geese,” replied Mr Ross, “and as they 

do not come until the great marshes, which are their 
298 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

early feeding grounds, are partially bared of snow, 
they are about a month behind the eagles.” 

“Then is there a goose month also?” asked Alec. 

“Yes, indeed,” replied Mr. Ross, “and it is a very 
important one to the Indians, and I anticipate that 
we, too, will have our share of excitement in it. It 
is called Niskepesim, from ‘niska,’ goose, or ‘nis- 
kuk,’ geese, and ‘pesim,’ month. The Niskepesim, 
goose moon, which corresponds with our April, is 
followed by Lhiekepesim, frog moon, as then those 
denizens of the swamps and ponds begin their 
croakings. In our North Land frog moon corre- 
sponds with May. Then comes Wawepesim, egg 
moon, as in June the birds are nesting and hatching 
out their young. So it is with all the other months, 
each has some equally expressive name.” 

“I am sure we are thankful for all this informa- 
tion,” said Frank. 

“It is a pleasure to get information, even if it 
som.etimes has to be acquired under difficulties, and 
it is equally pleasing to impart it to those who will 
make use of it,” was Mr. Ross’s reply. 

“I am sure,” said Sam, “we will have a deal to 
talk about when we return home next summer. The 
only thing that is bothering me is that lots will say 
that it is only a pack of lies that I am trying to cram 
down their throats.” 

“Well, then,” replied Frank, “we will not be the 
only returned travelers whose veracity will be ques- 
tioned. Don’t you remember, Sam, about the first 
ambassadors to England from a tropical country in 

the south of Asia, that when they returned home 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

they were rash enough to say that in England some- 
times in winter the water became hard enough to 
walk on. Then the king was so mad at them for 
telling such monstrous lies that he immediately 
handed them over to the executioner and had them 
shortened by the length of their heads.’' 

‘T wonder what he would have done with me,” 
said Sam, “after I had enlightened him on some of 
the facts of this country, for that mere trifle of a 
statement about ice forming on a river in England 
was a mighty small incident in comparison with 
what I have here discovered.” 

“What would you tell him,” asked Alec, “sup- 
posing the old rascal were still alive, and should 
ask you to visit him and then set your tongue 
a- wagging?” 

“Sure,” replied Sam, without any hesitancy, “if 
his Satanic majesty — I beg his pardon, that Siam- 
ese king — wanted any more water information, I 
would say to him, ^Sire, your majesty, once, in a fit 
of indignation at the doing of a stable man, called 
Pasche, I seized a bucket of water, just drawn, and 
up with it to throw over the fellow, and, wonderful 
to relate, it just hit him in chunks of ice as dry as 
marble.” 

“Well, we know that is true,” said Alec; “but sup- 
posing the old fellow still left your head on your 
shoulders, what next would you tell him?” 

“If the old questioner still wanted anything more 
about liquid matter, I would just inform him that we 
carry the milk of our cows wrapped up in old news- 
papers, and that it keeps that way for months, as 
300 


IN THE Great Lone Land . 

solid and tidy and handy as a brickbat in the end of 
a stocking/^ 

''If he could stand that and let you survive, what 
next?” said Frank. 

"I fancy I would confound his intellect by telling 
him that the breath-laden air of the church, one bit- 
terly cold Sunday, where some hundreds of Indians 
worshiped, so froze up that the whole of it fell to 
the floor in beautiful snow so plentifully that in one 
place, near a cold window, it was over a foot deep.” 

"Supposing he survived that, or rather let you 
survive, what next would you cram him with?” said 
Frank. 

Sam, glib of tongue and ever ready, at once 
answered : 

"Well, if that son of the sun, or whatever his Ori- 
ental title may be, wanted any more information 
about our liquids, I would enlighten him with the 
information that here, as a pastime or scientific ex- 
periment, we take quicksilver or mercury and cast it 
into bullets that become as hard and solid as lead, 
and then shoot them through stable doors.” 

"Anything more?” said Mr. Ross, who had been 
an amused listener, and had been much pleased with 
Sam^s ready answers, which showed how well he 
was gathering up the facts of the country to use 
them in other lands in years to come. 

"Well, yes,” said Sam, "I would tell his bibulous 
majesty, if he were in the habit of imbibing mois- 
ture of a fiery kind, that on one of our long journeys 
with our dogs I had with me on my sled, for pur- 
poses that need not concern his majesty, a bottle of 
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Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

the strongest wine. One day, when no eyes were on 
me, for good and honest purposes I made a visit to 
the aforesaid bottle, and to my horror and grief I 
found the bottle burst into a hundred pieces. Feel- 
ing carefully around — for it was in the dark when I 
had made this visit — I discovered that the wine it- 
self was frozen into a solid mass exactly the shape 
of the bottle. I carefully wrapped it up in a hand- 
kerchief, and -thus carried it along. Suffice to say, 
none of it was lost.” 

'‘Well,” said Frank, “if just about water, milk, 
mercury, and wine we will be able to tell such things, 
shall we not have lots of fun when we talk of our 
dogs and their doings, and of many other things 
that at first seemed so marvelous to us, but are now 
everyday occurrences and have in a measure lost 
their force and novelty?” 

“I fancy,” said Alec, “that some of the things we 
can also tell them about the cunning and cleverness 
of the wild animals we have been hunting, or seeing 
the Indians hunt, will open their eyes.” 

“After all,” said Frank, “the cleverness of the 
Indian guides in finding their way through the path- 
less forests, day or night, where there was not the 
least vestige of a trail, sometimes for hundreds of 
miles, and often when blizzard storms howled 
around them for days together, was to me as 
wonderful and unaccountable as anything I have 
witnessed.” 

“Yes,” said Mr. Ross^ “that is indeed wonderful. 
I have been studying it all my life, and I am just as 
much puzzled to-day as I was at first with these 
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IN THE Great Lone Land 

first-class guides. They are not all thus gifted, but 
there are some who never blunder, or even hesitate, 
under the most difficult circumstances. The sky 
may be leaden with clouds all day, and an ordinary 
person get so bewildered that he does not know 
north from south, or east from west, but the guide 
never hesitates for an instant, but on and on with 
unerring accuracy he pushes day after day, or even 
night after night.” 

“That is wonderful indeed,” replied Alec, “but 
the cleverness with which the wolves tried to get 
ahead of me by cutting across the necks of land in 
the river, and their other deviltries, are what I will 
never forget.” 

Here this most interesting conversation was 
ended by the arrival of Paulette and Mustagan, with 
the word that the melting snow had exposed the 
houses of the muskrats, and that they were off on a 
hunting excursion to a great pondlike swamp where 
these animals were known to be very numerous. At 
once it was decided that a party would be made up 
to join them at a designated spot in the forest on the 
edge of this great swamp. The distance was be- 
tween twenty and thirty miles, and as the greater 
part of the route would be on the ice, it was decided 
not to start until the chill of the evening had hard- 
ened the snow, which now nearly every day softened 
in the midday sun. Traveling with dog-trains in 
half-melted snow, or even when it is just soft 
enough to stick, is very heavy, laborious work. 
However, as soon as the sun ceases to shine upon it, 

at this season, it hardens up again very quickly. 

303 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

Arrangements were made for a three or four 
days’ trip, so a regular camp outfit was taken along 
on the dog-sleds. In addition to their guns the boys 
were each supplied with a long, lancelike barbed 
spear for effective use when securing the muskrats. 
Two or three Indians were taken along by Mr. Ross, 
who remarked to the boys, when he decided to ac- 
company them himself, that perhaps this was the 
last hunting trip of the season with the dogs, with 
perhaps the exception of the one to the goose hunt, 
which would not be long distant. 

The whole party left Sagasta-weekee about sun- 
down, and as it was a crisp, cold, beautiful moon- 
light night, everybody enjoyed the trip exceedingly. 
The boys, however, could not help remarking the 
great change in the temperature from midday. 
Then the sun was so hot that the snow was melting 
at a marvelous rate; now everything was as hard 
and firm as though it were still January. Through 
the portages and over the frozen ice expanses they 
hurried, and some time before midnight they reached 
a splendid camp already prepared for them by Pau- 
lette and Mustagan. A great roaring fire looked 
very attractive to all, even to the boys, as they had 
become quite accustomed to these wintry resting 
places when the heavy day’s work was done. Ket- 
tles were quickly filled and a late supper was eaten, 
and then all lay down to sleep. Nothing disturbed 
their rest except the distant mournful screeches of 
the wild cats and some other wild animals, that were 
already, now that spring was coming, like them- 
selves, on the lookout for muskrats. 

304 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

In the morning, after an early breakfast, the 
whole party set off for the great pondlike morass 
that extended for miles. Numerous tracks of wild 
animals were seen, and Mustagan pointed out to the 
boys not only those of some wild cats, but also a 
number of those made by the great feet of the wol- 
verines, as these latter animals are as fond of musk- 
rats as are any other. When the edge of the shore 
was reached the boys were surprised to see how 
rapidly the snow had disappeared from the surface 
of this lakelike pond. On it they noticed a large 
number of what seemed like bundles of straw, as 
though a farmer in a great loaded wagon had driven 
over the surface and had here and there in many 
places pitched out large forkfuls and left them to 
decay. 

‘^It looks,” said Sam, ‘^as though some farmer 
hereabouts had been drawing out the contents of his 
barnyard to enrich his fields.” 

^‘jDSt what I thought,” said Alec. 

‘‘All those little hillocks of marsh hay and reeds 
are muskrat nests,” explained Mr. Ross. “They 
were made last summer on the little mossy hill- 
ocks that everywhere abound in all of these great 
marshes. Being then entirely surrounded by water, 
they are fairly safe from the prowling wild animals 
that hunt them as their prey, as wolverines and wild 
cats dislike the water. Then in the winter they are 
completely covered by the deep snow, and so are as 
safe as beavers' kitchens. But in the early spring, 
when the snow melts off the ice, they are at the 
mercy of their foes. The ice remains solid for 
20 305 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

another month or so, and on its hard surface these 
water-hating enemies travel and tear open these 
nests and devour those that have not deep enough 
burrowings in which to hide themselves away. Of 
course, as soon as open water comes they are safe, 
as they are thoroughly amphibious animals.” 

The boys were each armed with long, lancelike 
spears, while the Indians had in addition to these 
some axes and guns. At the first nest the boys found 
that the wild cats and wolverines had been there 
before them and had cleared out every muskrat. 
However, as under the guidance of the Indians they 
pushed out further on the ice, they found many nests 
or little houses undisturbed. A few blows with the 
axes knocked the house to pieces, and then there was 
quick work in spearing the almost helpless animals. 
In the houses near the channel of the stream, or 
where there was deep water, very often the clever 
muskrats had a channel dug from their little straw 
houses to the water. These “runs,” as they are 
called, serve as a line of retreat whenever their home 
is attacked. In other places the muskrats contented 
themselves with merely having a well-like place 
under their little houses. While some of them were 
deep enough to save them from the wild cats or wol- 
verines, they were not sufficient to save them from 
the spears of our boys and Indians. It seemed at 
first cruel to thus stab the helpless animals, but their 
flesh was food for the natives, and their furs were 
sold to the traders for things essential to the In- 
dians’ comfort. So numerous were the nests in this 

extensive morass that there was work enough for 
306 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

the hunters for days. The boys, however, soon be- 
came tired of killing the poor muskrats, and so only 
remained at the work with the Indians for the one 
forenoon. After that they left their long spears at 
the camp, and taking a dog or two with them, and 
their guns, had some good sport among the par- 
tridges, which were fairly numerous. 

The second morning the boys were aroused very 
early by a couple of the Indians who had been on the 
watch during the night guarding the now large pile 
of muskrats and skins. Paulette and Mustagan 
were too clever to let their game be stolen from 
them, as were some beavers earlier in the winter 
from other hunters, as we have described elsewhere. 

‘^Get ready soon, and get your guns and come 
with us, and we will show you something that will 
please you.’’ 

It did not take them long to respond, and so they 
were soon on the trail with Mr. Ross, while the two 
old Indians noiselessly led the way. The other In- 
dians had orders to remain in the camp and keep the 
dogs with them, and as quiet as possible. They had 
not traveled more than half a mile before the boys 
heard the most discordant screeches. Still they had 
not the slightest idea of what sort of an experience 
was before them. Louder and louder were these 
sounds, as they came directly with the wind toward 
them. When they reached a little depression in the 
trail they found that Mustagan and Paulette had 
stopped and were awaiting their arrival. It was 
now so light in the eastern sky that the boys could 
see as they approached that the Indians were mak- 
307 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

ing signs for perfect quiet. So as noiselessly as pos- 
sible they, with Mr. Ross, joined them. Then they 
were informed that just over the brow of the steep 
hill before them a couple of wolverines had chased 
a couple of wild cats up into a large tree. The cats 
had each captured a muskrat, and were making off 
with them when the wolverines came along and tried 
to rob them of their prey. However, the wild cats 
had succeeded in getting up into this solitary large 
tree with their game, and although the wolverines 
can climb trees they did not like to do so to attack 
these fierce cats, as their being already above them 
in the tree would give them such an advantage. 

Very distinctly now could be heard the growls 
of the wolverines, and then the defiant snarls of the 
cats. With their guns loaded with ball, they all 
began the cautious crawl up the hillside, with the 
Indians in the advance. Fortunately for them, the 
top of the hill was studded with short, stunted 
spruce trees. By each person keeping one of these 
well in front of him, they were all able to crawl up 
to positions where they could distinctly see the tree 
with the wild cats ensconced on its large branches 
and the wolverines at the foot of it. The tree was 
not an evergreen, and so every branch was distinctly 
visible. For a time they watched the various man- 
oeuvers of the animals. They noticed that when the 
wolverines were not active in their movements the 
wild cats kept eating bits off the muskrats. This 
seemed to anger the furious brutes on the ground, 
and so they would one after another make the at- 
tempt to get up the hard, smooth trunk. How the 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

cats had succeeded was a mystery to the boys. Wol- 
verines are fairly good tree climbers, but they had 
no show at all here, for when one of them succeeded 
in getting well up the almost smooth, bare trunk a 
fierce blow from the unencumbered paw of one of 
the wild cats, securely seated on the large lowest 
limb, which ran out almost parallel from the trunk 
of the tree, quickly caused him to loose his grip and 
fall helplessly to the ground. Then with apparent 
satisfaction the wild cat would take another bite or 
two of his muskrat. Several times, as though on 
purpose, the wild cats dropped small bits of meat or 
half-picked bones to the ground. The taste or smell 
of these fairly drove the wolverines furious, and so 
they would desperately make fresh attempts to get 
at their enemies, but without success. 

It was fortunate for our party that the wind was 
blowing toward them, and also that the air was 
so thoroughly tainted with the musky smell of 
the muskrats. Under ordinary circumstances they 
would have been detected long ere they had reached 
the top of the hill. So, unsuspected, they watched 
the strange antics of these animals, until suddenly 
the reports of a couple of guns rang out, and then 
up sprang both Mustagan and Paulette and dashed 
down to the foot of the tree, loudly calling to the 
rest of the party to quickly follow. Following Mr. 
Ross, the boys speedily obeyed, and when they 
reached the tree they found that one wolverine was 
dead and the other was hobbling off, as speedily as 
he could, on three legs. The other had been broken 

by the ball of one of the Indians. The frightened 
309 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

wild cats had dropped what was left of the musk- 
rats, which was not much, and had found their way 
much higher up in the large tree, where they vainly 
tried to hide themselves by stretching out on a 
couple of large branches. Quickly loading his gun 
again, Paulette hurried off after the wounded wol- 
verine, that, in spite of his broken leg, was rapidly 
making for the distant dense forest. But vain were 
all his efforts, for behind him was an Indian who, 
although now well up in years, was one of the fleet- 
est runners in the tribe. Soon the gun rang out and 
another wolverine was dead. 

It was decided that the boys should have the work 
of shooting the wild cats. So close and flat did they 
crawl down on the big branches that the boys had 
to move back to a considerable distance from the 
tree to get a good aim. Sam and Alec were to fire 
first, and if either cat failed to drop, then Frank was 
to bring it down. Mr. Ross and Mustagan with 
loaded guns stood ready for any emergency, for 
wild cats are uncertain animals, and are not to be 
trifled with. They are very fierce, and will some- 
times, when thus treed, if furious with hunger, or 
driven from their young, spring down into the 
midst of the hunters and fight like tigers. When 
the boys had secured a good position, and each knew 
which wild cat he was expected to kill, Mustagan 
gave the signal, and together the reports of their 
guns rang out. The cat at which Sam had fired at 
cnce dropped to the ground, stone dead. The other 
did not move, much to the chagrin of Alec, who 

could not understand how he should have missed 
310 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

him. Just as Frank raised his gun to fire Musta- 
gan’s quick eye saw what the boys did not, and so 
before Frank could fire he stopped him by saying: 

“That cat is dead ; do not waste another bullet on 
it» You only more injure his skin.” 

And so it was; when the body was at length ob- 
tained it was found that Alec’s bullet had hit him 
squarely behind the fore shoulder and had gone 
clean through his body, of course killing him so 
suddenly that there was not even that muscular 
quiver which generally causes animals when thus 
killed to fall to the ground. This was what actually 
happened to the one that Sam shot. 

Paulette soon after made his appearance drag- 
ging the wolverine. They were all delighted with 
the morning’s work. Mr. Ross and the boys hurried 
back to the camp and speedily dispatched an Indian 
with a dog-train and empty sled for the game. 
While some skinned these animals, others spent the 
day in killing additional muskrats, and then after 
supper, as soon as the snow had frozen hard again 
and the glorious moon was well up in the heavens, 
the home trip was commenced. Loaded down as 
they were, they did not travel as fast as they had 
done in the outward trip, and so it was about day- 
break when they reached Sagasta-weekee. 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 


CHAPTER XXII. 

Niskepesim, the Goose Moon — Excitement Among the In- 
dians — The First Goose — Their Northern Migrations — Feeding 
Grounds — Methods of Hunting Them — Nests — Decoys — Our 
Boys Off with the Indians — The Shooting Grounds — Their 
Camp — Great Success — Frank’s Queer Accident — Hit by a 
Dead Goose — Sam’s Comments — Laden with Spoils. 

Not many days after the return from the musk- 
rat hunt the weather became, for that land, de- 
cidedly w^armer. This created so much excitement 
among the generally stoical Indians that the boys 
could not but observe it. So one day, when a num- 
ber of them were at Sagasta-weekee, Sam asked 
Mustagan the cause of it. The old man answered 
but one word, and that was : 

“Niskepesim” (“The goose moon”). 

“Yes,” said Kinesasis, who had just come in, “it 
has surely come. Some passing hunters saw some 
wild geese near the mouth of the river, at Lake 
Winnipeg, and others who were out spearing musk- 
rats said that they heard flocks of them passing over 
during the night.” 

Great indeed w^as the excitement everywhere at 
this news. It rapidly flew from Sagasta-weekee to 
the fort, and then on to the mission. As though by 
some mysterious telegraphy, it passed from one In- 
dian settlement to another, yea, from wigwam to 
wigwam, until the cry everywhere was, “Niskepe- 
sim! Niskepesim!” (“The goose moon! The 
goose moon!”) 


312 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

Why there should be such commotion among 
these northern Indians about the arrival of the wild 
geese has long been a puzzle to outsiders who hap- 
pen to be among them at the time. Nevertheless 
such is the case. The fact that this moon is really 
the beginning of spring, which is so welcome, after 
the long and dreary winter, may have something to 
do with this general excitement and gladness. It 
is really the first month that the family have a flit- 
ting out from the close, confined houses or wigwams 
in which they have passed the cold, dreary months. 
Then it brings them a welcome change of diet, 
which is much prized after the long six months’ 
dining twenty-one times a week on frozen white- 
fish, with only the variation of a little venison, 
muskrat, or beaver. 

At Sagasta-weekee the excitement was as great 
as anywhere else. Mr. Ross had to exert a good 
deal of authority to keep some of his men at work 
after they had seen a great flock of these splendid 
gray geese fly over their heads. Over at the mission 
Mr. Hurlburt had failed completely in holding his 
men. He had been for some time urging them to 
clear up and put under cultivation what ground they 
had around their village that was good and fertile. 
At a good deal of expense he had secured a fine sup- 
ply of axes, hoes, spades, and other necessary imple- 
ments, as well as seeds, to help them. For some days 
they had worked industriously and well, and there 
was every prospect of a large portion of the ground 
being prepared and planted. One day, when Mr. 
Hurlburt had about thirty men hard at work in the 
313 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

fields, what should come flying along on the south 
wind but a great flock of geese? They were in 
broken ranks, not more than fifty feet above the 
ground, and evidently tired and looking for a feed- 
ing place. The sight was too much for the hunting 
instinct of the Indians, and so every ax, hoe, and 
spade was instantly dropped, and away they rushed 
for their guns. The missionary did not see one of 
them again for two weeks. 

The wild geese are of various varieties. The first 
to arrive are the great gray ones. They seem to 
come up from Central America, Mexico, and South- 
ern California, where they have spent the winter 
months. Then follow the brants, wavey, or laughing 
geese, which are all smaller varieties. When on 
their long migrations the geese all fly very high, 
and generally in long lines or triangles. But when 
they reach the north country, where they hope to 
spend the summer, they fly low over the ground. 
They seem to be then on the lookout for feeding 
grounds and suitable locations for nest building. If 
undisturbed, they speedily break up in pairs. They 
arrive very hungry, and so spend some days in 
heavy feeding on the peculiar many-jointed grass, 
called goose grass, the Indian name of which is 
Niskeanuskwa. 

At Sagasta-weekee the boys had heard so much 
about the goose hunt that they were full of curiosity 
and excitement as the time of its expected arrival 
drew near. White suits and white caps had already 
been made for them, and the guns were all freshly 
cleaned and oiled. Camping outfits were all ready, 
314 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

and the boys observed that in addition to the win- 
ter’s supplies there were added large heavy oilcloths, 
like tarpaulins. The next morning after Kinesasis 
had reported the words of the passing Indians there 
came in another hunter, and he had with him the 
first goose of the season. He was delighted to be 
the first, as a handsome reward is given to the one 
who is fortunate enough to kill and bring in this 
kind of first fruits of the harvest of these great 
birds. The sight of this goose was all that was 
necessary to have all arrangements completed, and 
it was decided that on the next morning all who 
could go should be off to the great goose hunt. 

The point selected for the camp was on the border 
of one of these great swampy plains, from which the 
greater part of the snow had been melted by the 
warm south wind, leaving exposed over hundreds 
of acres vast quantities of this jointed grass on 
which the geese feed with such avidity. The frost 
was still in the ground, and so there was no diffi- 
culty on the part of the hunters in arranging their 
shooting nests and decoys as they desired. The 
camp was made very similar to those already de- 
scribed. There were a few changes, however. The 
soft snow was all cleared away, and a deep layer of 
fine balsam boughs were evenly spread out over the 
cleared place. Then over this a couple of tarpaulins 
were spread, and on these the usual camp beds of 
robes and blankets were arranged as elsewhere de- 
scribed. A great log fire was built up in front, and 
numerous logs were cut for use when required. A 
number of good stiff long poles were also cut and 
315 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

placed where they could be quickly utilized, if 
needed, to erect a roof or barrier against a storm 
of sleet or rain which might unexpectedly come up. 

While the camp was thus being prepared by some 
of the party, in this cozy elevated place, back among 
the trees, where it would not frighten the geese, 
others were equally hard at work making the nests 
out on the great open meadowlike place where the 
goose grass was most abundant. These nests were 
built up of dry grass and dead brush, and made so 
that they looked just as their names would indicate 
— like great nests. Each of them was large enough 
to comfortably hold two hunters, who could easily 
move around, and thus be able to fire in any direc- 
tion. They were about four feet high, and so con- 
structed that when the hunters inside were crouching 
down they were quite invisible to the passing geese. 
Some Indians used to pile lumps of snow here and 
there on the edge of the nest to help the disguise. 
It is a peculiarity of wild geese that white objects 
never frighten them. This was the reason why the 
hunters all wore white suits and white caps. Then a 
number of decoys were made. They were rather 
rude affairs. The bodies were hewn out of logs 
about the size of a goose. A couple of sticks were 
driven in for legs ; then the heads and necks, which 
had been prepared beforehand out of crooked roots, 
were fastened in their places. They were poor af- 
fairs, but seemed quite sufficient to attract the 
simple geese. A number of these decoys were as- 
signed to each nest, and the hunter had to arrange 
his own according to his own judgment. The direc- 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

tion of the wind had much to do in rightly placing 
them. Care had to be exercised in arranging the 
nests so that the occupants of one would not be in 
danger from the firing from another, as in the ex- 
citement of the settling down of a large flock, or in 
their circling completely around a nest, a person is 
apt to forget everything but his anxiety to shoot as 
many as possible. 

As soon as the sleds were unloaded they were all 
sent back to Sagasta-weekee, as not a dog must be 
allowed at the camp. No geese will come where 
there are barking dogs. For the first day or two 
there was nothing but anxious watching. The 
southern horizon was eagerly scanned for the on- 
coming lines of gray geese that were so eagerly 
anticipated but seemed to be so late in arriving. 
During the second night the wind, which had been 
blowing from the northeast, suddenly veered round 
to the southwest. This was noticed at once by the 
old, experienced men, Mustagan, Big Tom, Memo- 
tas, and Kinesasis, who had been invited by Mr. 
Ross to join his party. They were convinced that 
this wind would bring the geese, and so, dark as it 
was, they proceeded to make all arrangements for 
the next day’s shooting. They first went out and 
arranged all the decoys in the right position, so as 
to attract the geese coming with such a wind. Then 
they carried the guns and arranged them four apiece 
in each nest, with the ammunition. 

Before this work had been completed the geese 
could be heard flying over their heads. Some of the 
flocks were so low that the vibrations of the air 
317 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

could be easily felt. When they returned to the 
camp, although it was still starlight, they called up 
Mr. Ross and the boys. Breakfast was quickly pre- 
pared, and while it was being eaten the rush and 
calls of the rapidly increasing flocks could be dis- 
tinctly heard. Then Mustagan and Frank, each 
taking a white blanket with him, hurried off to the 
most distant nest, which was almost north from the 
camp. There they cozily ensconced themselves and 
anxiously waited for the first blush of morning. 
Alec and Big Tom took possession of the nest on 
their left, about two hundred yards away. Sam and 
Memotas were assigned to the nest about the same 
distance south of them, while Mr. Ross and Kinesa- 
sis took possession of the one about three hundred 
yards distant on the right. All were in white suits, 
and had in addition their white blankets, as a pro- 
tection against the cold. While one or two men 
were left to take care of the camp, the others went 
off to different places where they thought they could 
get successful shots. 

It was not long before the morning star showed 
up above the eastern horizon, and then the first 
dawning of the day appeared. 

^‘Chist!” (“Listen!”) said Memotas to Sam, and 
quickly they were on the alert. The Indian’s quick 
ear had detected a low-flying flock, and so before 
they were seen in the dim morning light they were 
heard. On they came, little dreaming of danger 
now that they were so far away from civilization, 
and so they flew not a hundred feet above this 
hidden place of their enemies. 

318 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

Bang ! bang ! went the two guns into their midst, 
and soon bang! bang! went the other two barrels. 
With loud, discordant cries, those that were unin- 
jured veered off to right and left. Memotas then 
threw down his empty gun and quickly seized his 
loaded one, but did not attempt to fire it. Sam also 
quickly picked up his extra loaded one, and was 
about to fire at the now rapidly retreating geese. 
Memotas, however, stopped him, and showed him 
that his gun was pointed exactly in the direction in 
which was the nest where Alec and Big Tom were 
stationed. Sam was frightened at what might have 
been the consequences if he had fired, and gratefully 
thanked Memotas for his caution. Memotas, who 
was busily engaged in reloading the guns, only said : 
“Soon daylight; then you will see better.” 

In the meantime the others had heard the firing 
and were on the alert, and so when the divided flock 
turned to the right and left some of the geese came 
close to the nest of Alec and Big Tom, and the rest 
were not very far from that of Mr. Ross and Kine- 
sasis. There was firing from both parties, but their 
success was not very much, as the darkness was still 
too great, and the geese were not so close to them 
as they had been to Sam's nest. Memotas went out 
and found a couple of geese which he brought into 
the nest. He and Sam were quite proud of having 
killed the first. In the meantime, with the increase 
of the wind there was an increase in the number of 
the passing flocks. And now soon they began to be 
distinctly visible, and the firing became quite fre- 
quent. Of course, a good many shots were lost, as 
319 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

it is no easy matter to hit a flying goose, large as it 
is. No experienced hunter thinks of firing directly 
at a goose that is flying by him, or even overhead. 
He has to calculate for at least a foot ahead for, say, 
each hundred feet the goose is away from him, and 
it takes a quick eye and good judgment to correctly 
estimate the distance. Sam said he liked best to fire 
at them when there was a string of them in line. 
Then -by blazing away at the first he generally 
brought down the third or fourth. 

It was now full daylight, and so it was necessary 
for the hunters to be much more wary and keep 
themselves well down in their nests and very quiet. 
When they were perfectly still the geese took them 
for lumps of snow. This was the reason why there 
was nothing but white in their dress. Even the 
belts they had tied around them were pure white. 
Soon the Indians began calling, to bring the geese 
within range. The rude decoys were placed as 
though they were having a glorious time feasting 
on the rich goose grass. The calls of the Indians 
were exact imitations of the geese calling to their 
fellows. Sometimes these cries sounded like 
“Honk! honk! honk!’’ Then they seemed to be 
more like “Uk! uk! uk!” Then sometimes they 
were like the calls that the ordinary barnyard geese 
make when well satisfied with food. It was inter- 
esting to the boys to notice how quickly a far-away 
flock caught these sounds. Marvelously acute was 
their hearing. Then they acted so differently. 
Some were very wary and shy, and at once began 

to endeavor, as it were, to climb up higher and 
320 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

higher in the sky. This, however, was a difficult 
task just then, as the wind was behind them. When 
geese, as a general thing, wish to quickly rise up 
high in the air, they turn and go against the wind. 
In some way or other it speedily seems to lift them 
up. Other flocks, as soon as they thought they 
heard some of their comrades having such a good 
time, came right on and were close to the decoys and 
nests before they were aware of their blunder. Then 
the firing was rapid and destructive. Some of the 
flocks had dropped down so low that in order to 
rise up again they had to circle round and go back 
against the wind. Then there was double sport for 
the hunters. Often a flock would come in on the 
left side, and just as it was about to light among 
the decoys the guns would ring out and do their 
deadly work. The survivors were so low down 
that they could not go on with any advantage, and 
so had to turn sharp to the right and try to get away 
by going back against the wind. This movement 
brought them now on the right side of the nest, and 
as they passed more of the guns were fired and more 
victims fell dead to the ground. 

Such were the positions of the nests in reference 
to the wind, that Sam and Memotas had, by all 
odds, the best place that day. Generally after they 
had fired the flock broke in two, and Alec and Big 
Tom got part, while the other portion generally 
found Mr. Ross and Kinesasis. However, when a 
great flock pushed on unbroken it generally went 
directly over and very near the nest where Frank 
and Mustagan had their quarters. Then there was 
21 321 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

some fine shooting, as each had two double-barreled 
guns and Frank had become quite famous as a shot. 
Many of the geese dropped at once to the ground 
when shot. Others, although mortally wounded, 
only fell when quite a distance beyond, as the mo- 
mentum of their rapid flight seemed to carry them 
on. Some fell when they were only shot through 
one wing. During the lull after the firing, when the 
boys went out from the nests to bring in the spoils, 
there were some additional battles to be fought ere 
some of the geese were conquered. Especially was 
this the case with those that were injured in only 
one wing. When these were approached they in- 
stantly stood on the defensive and struck out most 
viciously with the unwounded wing. Some of the 
boys had had some experience in this line, and so 
were now on their guard, and thus escaped feeling 
the tremendous power of a goose’s wing. Others 
viciously used their bills and made lively work for 
the boys ere they were conquered. Others un- 
wounded in their legs made off as rapidly as pos- 
sible, and then there was great fun in the work of 
running them down. Those that could use even 
their wounded wing, or wings, to help them in their 
miovements made capital time, and while most of 
them were captured, others succeeded in getting 
away altogether. Doubtless they would be picked 
up by alert Indian hunters, who were, or would be 
in a day or so, literally swarming over every place 
where a goose was likely to be obtained. 

When noon arrived they nearly all returned to 

the camp, where dinner already awaited them. 

322 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

I'wenty-seven geese were the results of the shoot- 
ing in the four nests. Other Indians came in with 
their bags. Some had done on the average better 
than this, and some not so well. As the wind re- 
mained steady in the one direction the flocks of 
geese were very numerous. There was hardly a 
period of ten minutes’ time when some were not 
visible. Of course, the great majority of the flocks 
were high up in the air. On and on they flew, their 
eyes fixed on a point further north, perhaps a thou- 
sand miles beyond. No call from the hunters 
reached them, no ball even from a rifle pierced the 
thin air of that exalted region in which, at perhaps 
a rate of a hundred miles an hour, on they flew. The 
Indians say that the same geese come back, when 
possible, to their old feeding grounds year after 
year. 

After dinner the sport was resumed. When no 
flocks were near the boys would jump out of their 
nests and by some racing and frolicking on the ice 
keep themselves warm, as there was much of winter 
still in the air. The cry of ‘‘Niskuk! niskuk!” 
(“Geese! geese!”) would send them racing back to 
their respective nests, and it was often as much as 
they could do to reach their retreats ere the geese 
were upon them. 

A queer accident happened to Frank. As a small 
flock passed over the nest in which Sam and Memo- 
tas were sitting Sam blazed away with his last 
barrel, just as the geese had gone by. He struck 
one of them and mortally wounded it, but it had 

vitality enough left to keep itself up until it reached 
323 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

the nest where Frank and Mustagan were crouched 
down watching another flock that was approaching 
from the other side. Without any warning the 
goose suddenly dropped dead with a whack on top 
of Frank, knocking him over most thoroughly and 
causing his gun to suddenly go off, but fortunately 
without hitting his Indian companion. A great 
gray goose weighs something, and so the whack 
from this dead one nearly knocked Frank senseless. 
The inmates of the other nests quickly came to his 
assistance. He was so dazed with the blow that it 
was decided that he and Sam, who had had about 
enough of goose-killing to suit them, should go to 
the camp for the rest of the afternoon. It was 
wisely thought that Sam’s irrepressible fun and 
good nature would be the best medicine for Frank 
for the time being. 

That evening, when the shooting was over and all 
were seated on their comfortable robes around the 
bright camp fire, there was a lot of talk about 
Frank’s queer accident. All were thankful that the 
blow did no more serious harm. Mustagan said 
that he had shot geese flying over the ice where they 
had fallen with such force that they had broken 
clean through ice so strong that men could walk 
over it with safety. 

“What do you think about it, Sam?” said Alec. 

“Think about it, do you ask me?” replied Sam. 
“I have done a deal of thinking about it. I’ve been 
thinking that was the queerest weapon of offense 
I ever heard or dreamed of. I have heard of arrows 
and bullets and darts and clubs and shillalahs and 
324 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

tomahawks and boomerangs, and even thunderbolts, 
but the idea of hitting a poor, defenseless English 
lad with a dead goose ! It beats me hollow ! Sure 
I can hardly believe my senses. I’ll be denying the 
whole thing to-morrow, although I saw the com- 
plete performance to-day.” 

The next morning Frank was fully recovered 
from this queer blow, and just as eager as ever to 
take his place in his nest with Mustagan. The wind 
veered around to the southeast, and so all of the 
decoys had to be changed. The shooting was good 
all day, but not equal to the previous one. The In- 
dians were very clever in even calling some flocks 
back that had been fired into with deadly results. 
The explanation the Indians gave for the returning 
of these flocks was that although they still kept 
together in great numbers the geese had selected 
their mates, and the shooting of one or other of 
these pairs had caused the whole flock to return to 
look them up, in response to the cries of the bereaved 
survivors. 

Sam said that he thought that the elegant voices 
of the Indians as they cried “Honk! honk!” had 
more to do with it than any affection in the heart 
or gizzard of an old goose. This remark of Sam’s 
was at once challenged, and a number of stories 
were related to prove that even the despised goose 
was worthy of a much better record than was 
generally given her. 

Thus, with varied success, several days were 
spent at the goose grounds. Two or three times 
the boys succeeded in each bringing down four 
325 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

geese with the four barrels of the two guns. This 
was considered very clever shooting on the part of 
young fellows on their first spring’s hunt. 

In due time the dog-trains returned from Sagas- 
ta-weekee. The last visits to the nests were made, 
and the closing two hours of the goose hunt were 
voted by all to have been the best, as the geese were 
so numerous that at times the guns were hot with 
the rapid work. The boys would have liked to 
remain longer, but Mr. Ross stated that they had 
already shot as many geese as they could eat at home 
or could give away, and that it would not be right 
to kill any more of such valuable birds. The true 
hunter thinks not only of present needs, but of the 
years to come. In times of plenty he remembers 
there are days and years ahead. This was a satis- 
factory explanation to all. 

The loading up of the geese on the extra sleds 
was soon accomplished. A good warm supper was 
eaten, and then at about ten o’clock at night, when 
the frost had again hardened up the snow that had 
been so soft and slushy a few hours before, the home 
journey was begun, and among “the wee small 
hours beyond the twelve” the welcome lights in Sa- 
gasta-weekee were seen, and the happy, tired ex- 
cursionists were glad to hurry off and half bury 
themselves in the beds and pillows filled with the 
downy feathers of geese killed at the spring hunts 
of years before. 


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Sam with His Dogs on the Ice Raft. 


IN THE Great Lone Land 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

Sudden Transition from Winter to Spring — Interesting 
Phenomena— Sam’s Last Great Run with His Dogs— His 
Unique Adventure — The Open Water — His Novel Raft— Suc- 
cessful Crossing— Frank and Alec’s Duck- shooting Trip— 
The Mighty Nelson— A Hunter s Paradise— Returning Under 
Difficulties — One More Shot at the Wild Geese — Frank and 
Rumors — The Fair Visitants at Sagasta-weekee. 

Very rapid indeed is the transformation from 
one season to another in the high latitudes. When 
the long, steady winter breaks it does so with a 
suddenness that is startling to a person who ob- 
serves it for the first time. The snow disappears 
with a marvelous rapidity. The ice, that was like 
granite in hardness and several feet thick on the 
great lakes, becomes dark and porous, and in spots 
literally seems to rot away. Then along the great 
cracks, where it had burst by the power of the ter- 
rible frost some months before, it now opens, and 
soon great fields of it become floating masses on the 
waters. Under the action of the brilliant rays of 
the sun it becomes disintegrated, and falls away in 
crystals that are of various sizes and as long as the 
ice is thick. This crystallization begins early, and 
makes the ice very dangerous and uncertain. The 
Indians call this slivering of the ice candling. 

Sam had a narrow escape from drowning on ac- 
count of this rapid transformation of the ice. He 
had harnessed his dogs and gone out on the shining 
327 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

lake for a run. The snow had all disappeared from 
the land, and so the great icy expanse was all that 
was left for an invigorating run with the dogs. The 
frost had been keen in the night, and so everything 
was firm and hard when he left in the morning. 
The day was an ideal April one. The sun was full 
of brightness, and the south winds were full of 
warmth. For miles and miles Sam recklessly dashed 
along with his splendid dogs. He was sorry at the 
thought that he was so soon to forever leave them 
behind in that North Land. Soon some pools of 
water on the ice into which his dogs splashed 
brought him to his senses, and he turned for the 
home run to Sagasta-weekee, now perhaps twenty 
miles away. 

“Rip Van Winkle,” said Sam; “sure, I am that 
same old fellow, to judge by the change since I 
traveled over this icy lake.” 

Great indeed was the transformation which the 
sun and south wind had made. While there was 
still plenty of good ice, there were many dark, 
treacherous spots all around, which had so crystal- 
lized by the sun’s rays that, although the ice there 
was still three or four feet thick, it was unsafe for 
dogs or boy. Fortunately, dogs become very wise 
in this matter, and so Spitfire carefully wended his 
way among these dangerous places, cautiously keep- 
ing where the ice was firm and solid. Rapid 
traveling was in some places impossible, for fear 
of running into a bit of rotten ice. 

Suddenly Sam was stopped by coming to a long 

stretch of open water. It was a place where during 
328 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

one of the coldest nights the ice had suddenly burst 
open with a report like a great cannon. The crack 
then made was about twenty or thirty feet wide and 
some miles in length. So intense was the cold that 
the ice in a few hours formed again on the water 
which was in this great opening. But when these 
great breaks in the thick ice occur, toward the end 
of the winter, the new ice that forms is never so 
thick as is the rest, and so when the spring warmth 
comes it is the first to disappear. It was to one of 
these open seams that Sam had now come. In the 
early hours of the morning it had been covered with 
ice sufficiently strong to hold him, but now it was 
full of broken fragments that rose and fell on the 
water that was stirred up by the strong south wind. 
As far as the eye could reach north and south ex- 
tended this open channel. Sam was perplexed, and 
hardly knew what to do. To drive across was impos- 
sible, as the seam was much wider than his cariole 
was long. To wait until the night frost again froze 
up the water was a risk, as to judge by the warm 
south wind then blowing, if it so continued there 
would be no freezing of any consequence. Thus 
Sam was troubled and annoyed at having allowed 
himself to be thus caught, especially as he and the 
other boys had heard Mr. Ross and the Indians 
refer to just such experiences. With his vexation at 
having thus had his trail so suddenly broken there 
flashed into his memory the stories of how some of 
the Indians, when in just such dangerous places, had 
escaped by making great rafts of the ice and on 

them floating across the open water. No sooner 
329 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

had this thought come to Sam than he fairly shouted 
out : 

'‘This is my plan. Now I will have a story to tell 
that will sound well in dear, darling Dublin.” 

It was well for him that an ax and ice chisel, 
which he had been using in cutting a hole in the ice 
the day before, were still lying in his cariole. With 
these in his possession there came a feeling of ela- 
tion in his heart, and he fairly shouted with delight 
at the position in which he found himself. With 
great zeal he set to work, and having placed his 
dogs in what he imagined was a safe position, he 
first carefully marked out around them a line to 
indicate where he was to chop. Industriously he set 
to work. But, O dear! — well, it was hard work. 
Soon off came his outer coat, then he threw down 
his mittens, and his fur cap followed next. Bravely 
he toiled, until his hands were about blistered and 
his back sore. To his great disgust he found out 
that not one tenth part of the task was accomplished, 
and yet he was about tired out. He had selected the 
firmest ice he could find, in order that his raft might 
be perfectly safe. While this was a wise thing to 
do, and would have been all right if there had been 
sufficient strength available to cut it out, it was 
a mistake on the part of Sam, and so he realized 
when he had toiled until weary. But he was not 
disheartened, and so resolved to try and find a place 
where the sun’s rays could be utilized. Straighten- 
ing out his dogs, he drove along the ice for a mile 
or so before he reached a place that seemed to suit 

him. When he had found what he thought would 
330 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

do he set to work at once, for the day was now 
advancing. 

The spot selected was a solid-looking piece of ice 
not much longer or wider each way than his dogs 
and cariole. It projected somewhat into the water, 
and on the icy side were several dark places where 
the ice was rotten, on account of its crystallization 
by the sun’s rays. Here Sam with renewed vigor 
set to work. He made rapid progress, and found 
that all he had to do was to cut the firm ice that lay 
between these different dark spots where the ice had 
lost all of its cohesive power. Sam found ere he 
had finished that his dogs were getting strangely 
nervous, and to keep them from rushing off he had 
to turn the train around and tie them to the cariole. 
While doing this he discovered the cause of their 
fear, and was also thankful that he was with them 
in the middle of his now floating raft. The strong 
wind blowing directly up the channel, narrow 
though it was, had so agitated the water that there 
was a good deal of force in it, and so now, even 
before Sam had completely severed the ice from the 
main body, the water had begun to cause it to 
slightly move. Dogs are more sensitive than human 
beings, and so they had noticed it before Sam had, 
and while he was trying to quiet them the whole 
thing broke loose and began slowly to move north. 

As this novel raft broke loose it was quite un- 
steady for a few minutes, and Sam saw with dis- 
gust his ax slide into the water and disappear. 
However, he still had the ice chisel, with its strong 
handle, which was about eight feet in length. At 
331 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

first he had all he could do to quiet his excited dogs. 
They acted as though they would plunge into the 
water in spite of all his efforts. Some soothing 
words, and also some vigorous kicks, quieted those 
of different temperaments, and they settled down 
at last and seemed to say: ^‘Well, if our master can 
stand this, surely we ought to be able to.” Not until 
Sam felt that he had his dogs well under control did 
he make any effort to get his novel raft across the 
channel. But when they all lay still and quiet he 
took up his ice chisel and was ready for work. He 
vigorously pushed against the icy shore from which 
he had broken loose, but his strength did not at first 
seem to make much impression, as the wind was 
somewhat against him, and so his raft at times 
ground roughly against the side from which he had 
broken away. However, he was slowly working 
north, and he was not discouraged. Sam was al- 
ways an observant lad. When on shipboard he had 
been interested in watching the sailors shift the sails 
to catch the changing winds. So now an idea came 
to him, and he resolved to see what could be done 
with an improvised sail, even if it were only made 
out of a large buffalo robe. Lashing one side of the 
robe to the pole of his ice chisel, he then firmly 
fastened one end of it to the head of his cariole. 
Cutting two holes in the outer corners of the robe, 
he there tied a couple of strong deerskin strings. 
Then, taking his place in his cariole, he pulled his 
sail up against the wind and awaited the result. 

He was not very sure just how to manage to get 
across the channel, but he had no anxiety about get- 
332 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

ting further off, as that was an impossibility, as he 
was now jammed up against the ice. So he pulled 
in his sail and then let it out, until at length he found 
the right angle for the brisk wind to cause him to 
gradually draw away from the side he had been on. 
When in the middle of the channel so pleased was 
he with his novel craft that he let out his sail, and 
for a time sped along north between the two icy 
shores. Then, observing an indenture in the ice to 
the east sufficiently large to serve for a harbor for 
his queer vessel, he steered for it and safely ran in, 
but struck the icy landing place with such a crash 
that his raft was split in the middle under him. 
However, all he had to do was to hang on to his 
cariole and straighten out his dogs by the calls they 
well understood. In an instant they sprang ashore, 
and easily dragged Sam and the cariole after them. 
Facing toward the distant home, the dogs required 
no special urging, and so rapidly, yet carefully 
watching against the treacherous places, they hur- 
ried on, and about sundown home was reached. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ross had begun to feel anxious 
about him, and so were not only relieved by his 
return, but very much amused by the characteristic 
account he gave of his adventure on the ice raft. 

In the meantime, although it was not quite dark, 
there was no word as yet from Frank and Alec, who 
with some Indians had gone off early in the morning 
on a duck-shooting excursion. 

Following the geese, the hunting of which has 
been so fully described in a previous chapter, came 
the ducks in great flocks. They could be seen in 
333 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

great multitudes during every hour of the day, 
and the whistling sounds that accompany their 
rapid flights could be heard every hour of the 
night. They seemed to be of about every known 
variety, from the great gray ducks down to the 
smallest teals. The Indians were after them inces- 
santly, and killed great numbers of them. They 
resorted to no such elaborate preparations in hunt- 
ing them as they did at the goose huntings, but shot 
them at the various points along which they seemed 
to crowd, and in the many pieces of open water on 
the marshy shores, where they tried to find some 
favorite food. The boys were out almost every day, 
either with Mr. Ross or some trusted Indians, and 
had some capital sport. 

The morning that Sam had prepared to have a 
good long final run with his dogs Frank and Alec 
had gone to what was called the Old Fort, where 
the mighty Nelson, gathering in Lake Winnipeg 
the waters of many rivers, begins in its full strength 
its fierce, rapid, onward career, that ends only when 
it reaches the Hudson Bay. This has been for gen- 
erations a favorite shooting ground of the Indians, 
and here for the day the two lads and their Indian 
attendants came. They had made the journey very 
early in the morning, and so their dogs had had no 
trouble with the ice, which in the night frost had 
quickly become firm and hard. In the friendly 
shelter of some trees they had secured their dog- 
trains. Here building a fire, their Indian cook had 
a second breakfast soon ready for them. While 
eating it they could hear the cries of many wild 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

birds, that the now strong south wind was bringing 
over them. Flocks of wild geese, principally the 
waveys, a very much smaller variety than the great 
gray geese, were quite numerous, as well as an occa- 
sional one of the larger kinds. Swans flew by in 
straight lines with such rapidity that many a shot 
was lost in trying to shoot them. Pelicans were 
also there in great numbers, and the boys were in- 
tensely interested in their awkward, and at times 
comical, movements. As they are not good for 
food, only one or two were shot, as curiosities. 
Cranes stalked along on their long, slender legs in 
the marshy places, while snipe and many similar 
birds ran rapidly along the sandy shores. The 
ducks were everywhere, and so the shooting was 
everything that our enthusiastic hunters could 
desire. 

The Indians, toward noon, began to get uneasy 
about the return trip, on account of the effects of the 
sun’s rays and the south winds on the ice. They 
suggested an early start, but so fascinated had the 
boys become in the shooting that they kept putting 
it off from hour to hour. However, the return trip 
was at length begun, and then the boys saw the wis- 
dom of the Indians’ suggestion for an earlier start, 
and heartily wished they had agreed to it. Play- 
green Lake, which in the morning seemed still one 
great mass of glittering ice, now appeared half 
broken up. Wherever the ice had burst in the win- 
ter, and there frozen up again, now there were long 
channels of open water. Suspicious-looking pools 
of water were on the ice in many places, and so the 
335 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

outlook for the return trip was anything but pleas- 
ant. Frank’s train was the first to come to grief. 
His heavy dogs in passing over a dark-looking patch 
of ice broke through, and were with much difficulty 
pulled out. What amazed him and Alec was that 
the ice was still over two feet thick where the acci- 
dent occurred, but under the effects of the rays of 
the sun it had simply disintegrated into long icy 
crystals that had no cohesiveness, and so when they 
were trodden upon they afforded little more support 
than so much water. 

The dripping dogs were no sooner hauled out, 
and once more started, than the appearance of a 
flock of geese, in one of the open stretches of water, 
was too great a temptation to be resisted. The 
trains were halted, and Frank and Alec took their 
guns and crept round to an icy hillock from which 
they would be able to get a capital shot. In a few 
minutes the guns rang out their reports, and up rose 
the great flocks of geese, as well as many ducks and 
other birds. Frank and Alec had both been success- 
ful, and so speedily they dashed over the ice to at- 
tempt to secure their geese, which seemed to be only 
badly wounded. As the Indians, who were in 
charge of the dogs, saw them thus recklessly dash- 
ing straight for the open water they instantly started 
the dog-trains toward them. They were none too 
soon, for the boys, apparently seeing only their 
splendid game struggling in the narrow channel, 
noticed not the dangerous black spots on the ice. 
Poor Frank, who was a little in advance, almost 
suddenly disappeared. Down he went, and that so 
336 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

quickly that he had not time even to throw from him 
his gun, which speedily sank. 

He had all he could do to save himself as he sank 
in the icy crystals that sounded around him like the 
smashing of scores of panes of glass. Alec, alarmed 
at Frank’s sad plight, madly rushed to his rescue, 
but ere he had gone a dozen yards he too found him- 
self, as he afterward expressed it, like a person 
dropping into a well. Fortunately, he was holding 
his gun crossways to his body, and as the hole of 
rotten ice into which he so speedily dropped was but 
a small one the gun struck solid ice each side, and as 
he had held on securely to it he did not fall in as 
completely as did poor Frank. His plight was, 
however, a very awkward one, as the hole was so 
small and the firm, jagged ice so gripped him that 
unaided he would have had some difficulty in 
extricating himself. 

Well was it that the Indians had been on the alert, 
and so it was but a few minutes ere they were on the 
spot and at once set about the work of rescue. Alec 
was the first reached and was speedily pulled out, 
although it required some effort to do so on account 
of his being so wedged in so small a hole with the 
sharp, jagged ice. His ribs were sore for many 
days. In the meantime Frank’s position was much 
more dangerous. The speed with which he was 
running, when he so suddenly tumbled in, caused 
him to go completely under the ice. He was, how- 
ever, a good swimmer, and had presence of mind 
enough to know that for his own safety he must 
come up in the same place where he had gone down, 
22 337 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

as all around was solid ice. He was sorry to have 
to drop his gun, but there was no hope for it if life 
was to be saved. He found the sensation of trying 
to swim up through a mass of ice crystals that 
seemed to be two or three feet long, and no larger 
in size than pencils, a unique experience. As he 
bravely struggled through them they broke in 
thousands of pieces, some of them cutting his face 
like glass. When he was able to get his head above 
them he found that only a few strokes were neces- 
sary to take him to the strong ice, as this bad spot, 
in which he had fallen, was not more than twenty 
feet across. Getting out of such a hole on the slip- 
pery ice is no easy matter, and so, as he could see 
that help was near, after a few efforts he was con- 
tent to wait until strong arms came to his assistance 
and rescue. 

Speedily were some of the outer garments of the 
boys pulled off, and as much of the water as could be 
rubbed off from those remaining on them. Two of 
the Indians pulled off their dry coats, and with these 
on the boys were well wrapped up in their carioles, 
out of which many ducks were thrown, and then at 
once, with the swiftest and yet most cautious Indian 
on ahead as a guide for the safe places, the rapid race 
to Sagasta-weekee began. It was no easy matter 
for the Indian in front when darkness began to hide 
the dangerous places. More than once the rotten, 
treacherous ice gave way under him, and only by a 
sudden throwing of himself forward did he escape 
going through into the water. 

The distant lights in the windows of Sagasta- 
338 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

weekee, well called the house full of sunshine, were 
indeed welcome sights. Mr. and Mrs. Ross and 
Sam had been long on the lookout for them, and 
were shocked and frightened at the sad plight of the 
two boys. Frank and Alec, however, tried to make 
light of it, but neither had the slightest objection to 
offer to the hot baths at once prepared, and then 
their suppers, taken that night in bed. They were 
both badly shaken up. Frank felt worse in his mind, 
because he had lost such a valuable gun, while Alec’s 
ribs were the spots that were for some days his ten- 
derest places. 

All sorts of rumors went out in reference to the 
accident. The story had so enlarged that when it 
reached the mission house it was that the boys had 
been rescued in a dying condition and were still very 
low, and so there was great sorrow over there, even 
so much that it was said that two sweet young ladies 
refused to be comforted. When Mrs. Ross heard 
this her motherly heart was touched, and so, as the 
wind had changed and the cold north wind had 
again made the ice safe for experienced Indian 
drivers, two carioles were dispatched to the mission 
for the aforesaid young ladies to come and spend a 
week or two at Sagasta-weekee. The missionary, 
with his dog-train in charge of an experienced 
driver, also came over at the same time as did his 
daughters. Ere they arrived the boys were up and 
dressed in moccasins and dressing gowns, and so 
were able to receive their very welcome visitors. 
Mr. Hurlburt only remained to a very early tea, and 
then after an earnest prayer, in which there was a 
339 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

great deal of thanksgiving for their deliverance, he, 
with Martin Papanekis, the driver, returned to his 
home. 

Of that happy week that followed we confess our 
inability to write. That it was a very delightful one 
was evident to all. The only sorrow that tinged its 
brightness and bliss was the fact that soon the ice 
would be all gone, the boats would be arriving, 
and then the home trip of these three boys would 
begin. 


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Rachel and "Winnie. 


IN THE Great Lone Land 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

The Arrival of the Spring Packet — Welcome Letters — Ar- 
rangements for the Home-flitting — Sam’s Raillery — Rachel 
and Winnie at Sagasta-weekee — Happy Hours — Canoeing Ex- 
cursions — The Cyclone — Young Excursionists Exposed to Its 
Awful Power — The Narrow Escape — The Refuge of the Rock 
— Napoleon, the Tame Bear, in Possession — Gun Signals — The 
Happy Rescue. 

The arrival of the spring packet was, and still is, 
an interesting event to the dwellers in those remote 
northern regions. Not a letter or paper had reached 
Sagasta-weekee since the Christmas packet, and 
now it was June. And so when the first boats of the 
Hudson Bay Company arrived from Red River and 
Fort Garry, with supplies and great bundles of let- 
ters and periodicals, there was great excitement. A 
swift canoe was in readiness at the fort, and so it 
was not long ere the large number directed to Sa- 
gasta-weekee were hurried over to the expectant 
ones. They were quickly assorted, and then each 
person with his own rushed off to fairly devour the 
contents. 

"Taith,” said Sam, as he eagerly seized his bun- 
dle, ‘‘the sight of my blessed mother’s handwriting 
puts sand in my eyes and a lump in my throat. 
Blessings on the darling! May she live a thousand 
years !” 

Frank and Alec were equally as much interested, 
but they controlled their feelings and left to the 
341 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

more demonstrative Sam these joyous ebullitions, 
that were as natural as it was for him to breathe. 

x\fter Mr. Ross had perused a number of his let- 
ters he quietly signalled to Mrs. Ross, and immedi- 
ately they both left the room. He had received a 
letter from Liverpool which informed him that a 
very serious disease had begun to undermine the 
constitution of Frank’s father, and while no imme- 
diate fatal results were expected, it was thought best 
that Frank should return by the speediest route pos- 
sible. In Frank’s own letters from home all that 
had been mentioned in reference to the matter was 
that “father was not quite up to his usual health, 
and they would all be glad to have him return as 
speedily as possible.” Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Ross 
said anything to the boys in reference to the matter 
of their return until after the evening meal, when 
they were all in the cozy study discussing the vari- 
ous events that had been occurring in the outside 
world during the last six months,* and of which they 
had all been in profound ignorance until that day. 

Each boy had read his letters to the others, and 
together they had been delighted with all the news 
received, except that concerning Frank’s father. 
Then, for the first time, the matter of the return 
home was seriously discussed. So happy had been 
the months since their arrival, nearly a year before, 
that even the discussion of the return trip had been 
kept in the background as much as possible. But 
now they were face to face with it, and sharp and 
quick must be their decision if they would avail 
themselves of the first opportunity for their depar- 
342 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

ture. This would be by the return of these Hudson 
Bay Company’s boats to Red River. In them they 
could travel as far as to Fort Garry. From that 
point they would take the overland trail on the great 
plains to St. Paul, and there, boarding the flat-bot- 
tomed steamers on the Mississippi, would once more 
begin traveling in a civilized manner. 

This plan was the one on which they finally set- 
tled. It would be much more expeditious than the 
long waiting for the sailing ship at York Factory, 
and then returning by the Hudson Bay and North 
Atlantic route. This decided, the next question was 
how to make the best of the ten days that would 
elapse ere the journey would begin. 

^T’ll wager my dog-whip against a pair of moc- 
casins,” said Sam, “that I know where a good part 
of the time will be spent if a couple of young gen- 
tlemen friends of mine can have their own way.” 

“All right,” quickly responded Mrs. Ross, “for 
although I consider a wager, at best, is but a fool’s 
argument, and so you may keep your whip, I will 
accept your challenge and say that I know that here 
at Sagasta-weekee is the spot where the two young 
gentlemen you have in your mind will prefer to 
spend the time until the home journey is com- 
menced.” 

The sudden extinguishment of Sam’s pet phrases 
of “I’ll wager” and “I’ll bet” by the gentle Mrs. 
Ross was much relished by Frank and Alec, who 
well knew that they were the young gentlemen to 
whom he referred, and on whom he was about to 
turn his raillery. Generous, good-natured Sam 
343 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

was quick to acknowledge the error of his ways, in 
the use of those expressions from the betting world 
that had, he hardly knew how, found their way into 
his vocabulary. Still, as he gracefully apologized 
to Mrs. Ross there was a half-comical, half-per- 
plexed look in his face, and so, as he never could 
keep even his thoughts to himself, amidst the 
laughter of all he blurted out : 

^‘Sure I was thinking of the young ladies over the 
way there at the mission, and that it would be in 
their sweet smiles my two chums would wish to be 
basking.” 

‘'We have been thinking of them also,” said Mrs. 
Ross, “and before this, I imagine, the canoe has 
reached the mission, with a cordial invitation for 
both of them to come over, with as many others of 
the family as can leave, and spend the time with us 
until the boats start for Red River.” 

“Hurrah!” shouted Frank and Alec in chorus, 
and ere they seemed aware of what they were doing, 
in the exuberance of their boyish delight, they had 
hold of Mrs. Ross and were gyrating with her 
around the room, to the great amusement of all, 
especially of Roderick and Wenonah, who speedily 
joined in the sport. 

This being settled, the next thing was to talk over 
the preparations essential for the return trip. So 
many and varied were the trophies of the chase, as 
well as Indian curios that each of the boys wished 
to take back to the home land, that orders were at 
once given to the carpenters for the requisite number 
of large casettes. This is the name given in that 
344 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

region to water-tight boxes made out of the spruce 
lumber of the country. Indian women also were 
engaged to prepare the requisite traveling outfits for 
both the water and prairie routes. Then they all 
settled down to a loving talk over the happy months 
of the past and the outlook of the future. Speaking 
for the three boys, Frank said: 

‘‘We can never sufficiently thank Mr. and Mrs. 
Ross for this memorable year. It has been an edu- 
cation to us all that will, we are sure, be helpful to 
us in years to come. We shall not only, in the many 
trophies of these happy and sometimes exciting 
da3^s, have before us in our different homes the 
tangible reminders of our glorious sports and ad- 
ventures, but engraved in our memories will be the 
many remembrances of the unfailing love and indul- 
gent sympathy you have ever shown toward us. We 
are all very grateful to you both, and, while natu- 
rally pleased at the prospect of soon being with our 
loved ones across the sea, we are very sorry that we 
shall soon have to say good-bye.’^ 

This touching and nicely worded speech of 
Frank’s was too much for tender-hearted Wenonah 
and Roderick, and so they burst out into weeping 
and hurriedly left the room. Sam seemed to be 
suddenly attacked with a bad cold and blew his nose 
vigorously, and for once had nothing to say. Alec, 
more able to control himself, added a few kindly, 
grateful words to these so well put by Frank. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ross were deeply stirred, and in 
reply stated the happiness that had come to them in 
having had within their home three young gentle- 
345 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

men who had ever been a source of pleasure and in- 
spiration to them. Kindly were the words of coun- 
sel given them for their guidance in the harder 
battles of life before them — to be manly, self-reliant, 
and ever honest and true. “Remember this,” added 
Mr. Ross, “upright, honest boys will make the true 
men the world needs.” 

The memory of that evening long lingered with 
them, and in after years, in some fierce moral con- 
flicts, in which they each had to wear a face as of 
flint against temptation, the words of wisdom there 
heard enabled them to triumph against the fiercest 
attacks. “A word in season, how good it is !” 

Early the next morning the boys were up, and 
after breakfast and prayers they began assorting 
their various collections gathered, for skillful In- 
dian hands to carefully pack up for the long, rough 
journey that lay between them and their distant 
homes. A month or so before this they had parted 
with their dogs. Kinesasis had taken them all out 
to the distant island, where in idleness they could 
spend the few brilliant summer months, ere another 
winter would call them back to their work again. 
The boys had found it hard to part with the faithful 
animals. Alec especially, who had, in his Scottish 
nature, formed a great attachment to his gallant 
four that had found a warm place in his heart by the 
way they had secured for him his victory in that 
memorable race, was almost disconsolate. Two or 
three times had he secured a couple of Indians and 
a good canoe, and had gone over to the island for a 
romp with them. 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

The friends from the mission arrived in the after- 
noon, and were cordially welcomed. They had ac- 
cepted Mrs. Ross’s invitation in the spirit in which 
it had been so genuinely given. In such a land there 
is but little of the artificial and conventional. 
Friendship is true and genuine, and loving words 
have but one meaning. Frank and Alec greeted 
Rachel and Winnie in Oo-che-me-ke-se-gou fq,shion. 
They did not know whether to be pleased or sorry 
when they saw tears in the bright eyes of these 
young ladies, when the news was told them of the 
speedy departure of the three young gentlemen to 
their distant homes across the sea. Alec said he 
was rather proud of seeing the tears in Winnie’s 
eyes, as it made him more than ever think that she 
did really think something of him, and he would try 
by hard and steady effort in the coming years to 
prove himself worthy of her love. Frank, more 
open and impulsive, when he saw the tears in the 
eyes of his beloved Rachel, could not restrain his 
own, and was visibly affected. Sam, who had been 
an interested spectator of the arrival and the various 
greetings, must of course make a few remarks. 

^‘Look at Alec there,” said he. ‘‘The self-opinion- 
ated young Scotchman! He thinks so much of 
himself that he is pleased to see a sweet young lady 
shedding some tears for him.” 

This was rather severe on the part of Sam, but he 
could not bear to see anyone in tears, and so he was 
a little extra-critical just now. His keen eyes had 
also narrowly watched Frank, and as he saw the 
tears in his eyes and noticed his visible emotion, even 
347 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

fun-loving Sam was touched, and he impulsively 
exclaimed : 

“Frank, my darling, I love you for your great big 
heart. But my feelings are all mixed, for why 
should a young gentleman, who has just kissed his 
sweetheart, be after weeping and giving redness of 
eyes to the rest of us?” 

Then, with a merry laugh, he roused himself out 
of these dumps, as he called them, and exclaimed: 
“Frank, my boy, here is a conundrum for you: Of 
which of the venerable men of the past does your 
conduct remind me?” 

Various guesses were made, but none were con- 
sidered satisfactory, and so Sam was called upon to 
solve his own riddle. His answer was clever and 
characteristic. “Well,” said he, “when reading the 
blessed book my mother gave me I found a portion 
which said, ‘And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up 
his voice, and wept.’ Why he should have shed any 
tears at such an interesting transaction bothered me. 
But now I think I get a glimmering idea in reference 
to it, since I have seen the events of to-day.” 

“Sam, Sam,” said Mrs. Ross., who had heard this 
quaint reference to the old patriarch, “why do you 
thus bring in such names in your pleasantries?” 

“I don’t know,” replied the irrepressible Sam, 
“unless it is that it is in my blood; for one of the 
last things I heard my mother say, ere I left home, 
was that, to judge by the thinness of the milk fur- 
nished by the farmer who supplied us, he much re- 
minded her of Pharaoh’s daughter, as he took a 

proUt out of the water !” 

348 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

“Chestnuts,” said Alec. “I have heard that 
before.” 

It was new to the majority, and the droll way in 
which Sam gave it put everybody in a good humor, 
and a very happy, delightful time was spent by them 
all. 

Rapidly sped on the few days that intervened be- 
tween the arrival of the packet and the return trip 
of the boats to Red River. These Hudson Bay 
Company’s boats had come loaded with furs caught 
the previous winter, which would be sent down to 
York Factory with vast quantities from other parts 
of the great country, and from that fort shipped to 
England. Then, loaded with goods for the next 
winter’s trade, the boats would return to the dif- 
ferent posts from which they had come. With the 
exception of canoes, they afforded the only means 
of travel in the summer time in those regions. 

Mr. Ross had gone over to the fort at Norway 
House, and had obtained from the gentlemen there 
in charge permission to send Frank, Alec, and Sam 
in these boats as far as Fort Garry. He also decided 
to accompany them that far in their journey, and see 
that everything was secured necessary for their long 
trip across the prairies to St. Paul. 

As the weather had now become very pleasant 
for canoeing, several very delightful outings were 
arranged by Mr. and Mrs. Ross for the young folks. 
The boys had become expert canoeists, and in the 
long gloamings of the lengthened days in June, in 
those high north lands, they had many memorable 
excursions. 


349 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

As the Indian women and maidens are all experts 
in handling the paddle, so it becomes a point of 
honor among the ladies, young and old, in the Hud- 
son Bay fort and mission to be able to, at least in 
a measure, imitate the dusky, bronzed maidens of 
the wigwams. Mr. Hurlburt had wisely trained his 
daughters in this accomplishment. Living as they 
did, where there were really no walks except the 
trails that immediately led into the primeval forests, 
where lurking wild beasts were at -times so bold that 
they came up close to the dwellings of the villagers, 
it was really dangerous to go far from home. Canoe- 
ing thus became the great summer recreation and 
amusement. And for the upper part of the body 
there is no better exercise. The result was that 
Rachel and Winnie were both skillful and fearless 
canoeists, and very much enjoyed this, which has 
well been called ^‘the poetry of motion.” 

Mr, Ross prided himself on his beautiful, graceful 
canoes for the summer time, about as much as he 
loved his dogs in the long winter months. The In- 
dians, knowing his love for their graceful canoes, 
had presented him with some great beauties, on 
which they had exercised all their ingenuity and 
skill in construction, and their artistic taste in orna- 
mentation. These were all now in much demand, 
and merry and happy indeed was the whole party, as 
perhaps in six or eight canoes they started from the 
little land-locked harbor of Sagasta-weekee. Frank 
and Rachel were company enough for one of the 
prettiest canoes, while the same could be said of Alec 
and Winnie in another not less handsome. 

350 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

To the last, Sam’s joy was to have with him the 
little children, Wenonah and Roderick. To him 
was assigned a large, safe canoe, and a couple of 
trusty Indians to aid in the paddling. The rest of 
the party went out more or less frequently, as it best 
suited them. So much had to be done to complete 
the arrangements for the journey that often the 
young folks went out alone on their joyous trips. 

One afternoon Mr. Ross was a little troubled, and 
at first seemed inclined to ask all to give up their 
excursions on the water for that day and amuse 
themselves at home. His trusty barometer, that had 
stood so steady for fine settled weather for days, was 
now acting in a most erratic manner. A change of 
some kind was evident, and so Sam and the children 
did not venture out. Still, as the sky was cloudless 
and the blue waters of the island-studded lake looked 
so peaceful and quiet, he did not prevent Frank and 
Alec, with the young ladies, from venturing out, but 
gave them some words of caution and then let the 
happy canoeists embark, and saw them strike out in 
unison as away they glided over the little sun-kissed 
waves. For a little while the music of their laughter 
and song fell on the ears of those who had gone to see 
them off. When they had disappeared among the 
beautiful fir-clad islands the spectators returned to 
the house, and were soon busy in their various duties. 

Crash ! Boom ! What is that? 

Too well was it known by Mr. Ross and those who 
had lived in that land. It was a dreadful thunder- 
bolt, the precursor of the fierce cyclone, the sudden 
storm that is coming upon them at the rate of some- 
351 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

thing near a hundred miles an hour. Worst of all, 
four young people are out in it, in a couple of frail 
canoes, and who can tell what may happen to them 
when in its full fury it bursts upon them ? 

And how fares it with the young folks about whom 
there is now naturally so much anxiety at Sagasta- 
weekee ? With laughter and song we saw them dash 
away, as under their skillful strokes their light 
canoes, like sea birds, glided along over the peaceful 
waters. Now, drenched and half dazed by the blind- 
ing glare of the terrific storm, they are battling for 
life in a very maelstrom of waters. Suddenly had the 
storm struck them. They had remarked the strange 
actions and the frightened cries of the birds, that all 
seemed hurrying in one direction. Then they had 
observed the dead calm that had settled down on 
everything. Even the aspen leaves on the trees, on 
the islands along which they glided, for once were 
ominously still. Every wavelet on the waters hushed 
itself asleep, and the whole surface of the lake was as 
a sea of polished glass. 

Rachel was the first to take alarm from this deadly 
calm, and she exclaimed : 

‘^This is unnatural, and means danger. Let us 
return at once.’’ 

Quickly they turned their canoes, and now only a 
few yards apart they began the race before the com- 
ing storm, although as yet it had not revealed itself. 
The first intimation they had of its approach was the 
rapidly rising wind, which fortunately arose directly 
behind them. It was at first different from any or- 
dinary breeze. It seemed to come along like a thing 
352 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

of life, now catching up a handful of water and scat- 
tering it like sand, then bounding up in wanton sport, 
and then once more trailing on the waters and mak- 
ing it ripple in lines or lanes, as in mad sport it now 
more rapidly hurried along. 

Then, as they looked back over their shoulders to 
the northwest, they saw coming up the cyclonic cloud. 
It was dark as midnight, ragged at its edges, and 
above it was a rim of sky so green and so unnatural 
that our brave young people for a moment almost 
recoiled with terror at the sight. 

“Paddle for that island!” shouted Rachel. “No 
canoe can live in such a storm as will soon be on us.” 

Hardly had she uttered these words ere there shot 
out a thunderbolt so vivid that they were all nearly 
blinded by its intense brightness. It seemed to fill the 
whole heavens around them with its dazzling white- 
ness, and then as suddenly it was gone. 

“One, two, three, four,” began Rachel, who, al- 
though paddling with wondrous effectiveness, was 
calm and collected. 

“O, don’t stop to count,” called Winnie, who was 
like the rest desperately yet cautiously using her 
paddle. “It would be better to pray than do that.” 

“We’ll do that shortly, but paddle for dear life 
now, and don’t interrupt the count. Where was I? 
Ten, eleven, twelve — ” and at eighteen there came 
the crash of the thunder of that lightning flash that 
had so nearly blinded them. It was as though a 
thousand great cannon had simultaneously been fired. 

“Hurrah!” shouted the brave girl the instant it 
died away. “We have two minutes and a half yet 
23 . 353 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

ere the cyclone reaches us. In two minutes we must 
reach the other side of that high rocky point, and in 
the remaining half minute we must get on the lee side 
of the great sheltering rocks. Courage all, and let 
every stroke tell !” 

And there was need for courage, for already the 
white caps were around them, and behind them the 
waters hissed and shrieked like demons let loose and 
howling for their victims. The heavens were rapidly 
being overwhelmed with the blackness of darkness. 
But here is the point ! Skillfully the two girls, who 
were in the stern of the canoes, steered them sharply 
around, and the strong strokes of Frank and Alec 
did the rest, and they were in the shelter of the rock. 
But it would only be safe for an instant. 

‘‘Now all spring for your lives!” again cried 
Rachel ; “and let everything go, Frank, but your gun 
and some cartridges.” 

“Can we not save the canoes?” shouted Alec. 

“No, no I” cried Rachel. “It is our lives here only 
that we must think about, for the sake of those who 
even now, perhaps, are mourning us as dead.”' 

The shelter of the rocks was within a few flying 
bounds, and they were safe. It was an enormous 
rock that towered up some scores of feet, and on the 
lee side, where our young folks had found shelter, 
hung over for perhaps twenty feet. Fortunate in- 
deed were they to have reached such a refuge. 

A few seconds later, when, with backs against the 
mighty rock, they were in a measure recovering from 
the violent exertion of that fearful struggle, Winnie 
cried out, “O, where are the canoes?” 

354 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

Not a vestige of them was ever after seen. They 
had been caught up in that cyclone that came thun- 
dering on so close behind that in the brief seconds in 
which the young people had run from them to the 
rock they had been picked up and whirled into 
oblivion. 

“It is well/’ said Alec, “I did not stop to try and 
save the one I was in. But why, Rachel, did you ask 
Frank to bring along his gun and ammunition?” 

“You will soon see,” said the brave, thoughtful 
girl, “that they will be worth more to us and our 
anxious friends than the canoes.” 

In the meantime, the storm in passing the point 
had spread out over the whole place, and the rain, 
which was now descending in torrents, began to be 
very uncomfortable. A rim of light was still in the 
distance, and with the now almost incessant flashings 
of the lightning it was possible to grope around for a 
dry and more sheltered spot under the great rock. 
Alec, who had volunteered to go out and try to find a 
drier place, and who was now groping along in one 
direction as the lightning lit up his path, was heard 
to suddenly let out a cry of alarm and then almost 
immediately after burst into a hearty peal of laughter. 

“What in the world have you found in such a place 
to cause you to act like this?” said Frank, who was 
really annoyed at the merriment of Alec after such a 
narrow escape. 

“Come here and you will see,” was the only reply 
they could secure from Alec, who was acting in a 
manner so strange and unaccountable. 

So, waiting for the lightning flashes to enable 
355 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

them to pick their way over the rough stones under 
the sheltered place, they cautiously moved toward 
him. As they came within a few feet and were now 
in the gloom, waiting for another flash to light up the 
way, Alec said : 

“Don’t be frightened at what you will see. It is 
only old Napoleon, and he is as frightened as he can 
be, and seems glad to have me with him.” 

The sight that met them as the next vivid flash 
blazed out was indeed enough to try older and 
stronger nerves, for there was Alec with his back 
against the dry rock and one of his arms around the 
neck of an enormous bear. 

“Don’t be alarmed,” shouted Alec. “It is old Na- 
poleon, and he is more frightened by the cyclone than 
any of us.” 

“How do you know it is Napoleon?” asked 
Winnie, who was noted for her extreme cautiousness. 

“Know him ? Why, of course I know him, and he 
was as pleased as an affectionate dog to see me. And 
see, here are the two brass rings I put in his little 
round ears last winter at the fort, some time before 
Christmas.” 

This was convincing proof that their comrade was 
a tame, harmless bear, and so without any more 
alarm they all crowded into what proved to be a dry 
and safe retreat from the fearful storm that still 
raged outside. 

“Bears know a thing or two,” said Alec, “and so 
old Nap in selecting this spot was quite confident that 
it could stand a cyclone.” 

Meantime the storm continued to rage with awful 
356 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

fury, but sheltered by the rocks they were safe from 
its ravages. All they could do was to patiently wait 
until its fury was spent. So they sang some sweet 
hymns, and the girls gave some reminiscences of 
previous storms and adventures. 

As soon as the storm began to abate Rachel said : 
think, Frank, it is time you began to use your 
gun.’’ 

“What, would you have him shoot this affectionate 
old bear ?” asked Alec. 

A merry laugh burst from the lips of both of the 
girls, and Winnie asked him if he had any idea of the 
reason why Rachel so urged Frank to save his gun 
and ammunition, even if everything else should be 
lost. 

“Not the slightest idea,” was his answer. 

“Well,” replied Rachel, “as the fury of the storm 
is about spent, it is time to be beginning to explain 
the mystery. And so now suppose you take the gun 
and go out on the beach and fire three times in quick 
succession.” 

Frank and Alec at once comprehended the riddle, 
and laughed at their own stupidity. The firing of the 
gun would bring their rescuers speedily to them. 

Unfortunately for these young people, their re- 
treat was too distant from Sagasta-weekee for the 
report of their gun to reach that place. However, 
just as soon as Mr. Ross saw the storm approaching 
he summoned every available man, and had boats in 
readiness to begin the search as soon as it was pos- 
sible to risk the angry waves which a cyclone of this 
description stirs up. For at least three hours they 
357 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

had to wait ere they could make a start. Then in the 
still angry waters they shoved out their boats, and in 
different directions started on the search. 

In the meantime let us again go back to the young 
people in their strange place of refuge. Noting the 
increasing brightness, as the black clouds were now 
rapidly rolling away, Rachel suggested that three 
more shots be fired. In a few minutes more they 
were repeated, and soon after, as the rain had now 
nearly ceased, the whole party came out from their 
gloomy cave retreat. On every side were evidences 
of the terrific power of the cyclone. Great trees had 
been torn up by the roots, while others had been 
snapped off, leaving the stumps standing from 
twenty to fifty feet high. 

Apart from the sad evidences of the storm, every- 
thing was soon simply delightful. In those high 
latitudes the June evenings are very long. Here was 
now one of wondrous beauty. The angry waves were 
quickly dying away into pleasant ripples. The sun 
was setting behind some lovely clouds of gold and 
crimson, and the air, purified by the cyclone, seemed 
exhilarating in the extreme. 

‘‘Keep up your firing, Frank,” said Rachel, “for 
doubtless there are boats out long ere this, looking 
for what is left of us.” 

“Listen!” said Winnie, who, being wonderfully 
gifted in hearing, had been the first to detect an 
answering gun. “One, two, three, four. Fire 
again !” she cried. “They have heard, but are uncer- 
tain as to the direction.” 

Again the three reports of the gun sounded in 
358 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

quick succession, and soon there was the answer of 
two guns, which meant, '‘We hear you now and will 
soon be with you.” 

To Mr. Ross’s great relief and satisfaction, it was 
the boat, manned by four oarsmen, of which he him- 
self had charge that was the first to hear the firing 
of Frank’s gun. Some of his Indian crew had de- 
tected reports before he had, but nothing would 
satisfy him until the welcome sound fell on his own 
ears. 

"Pull, men !” he fairly shouted, "and let us see how 
many of those loved ones have survived that storm. 
If any of them are drowned, you need not take me 
home.” 

Not a man in that boat, white or Indian, needed 
any urging. Such was the love they all had for those 
young people that gladly would any one of them have 
risked his own life for theirs. 

Around the next point, now not far away, again 
rang out the three reports, and soon a most welcome 
sight greeted the eyes of Mr. Ross and his crew. For 
there, distinctly visible on the shore, were four happy 
young people waving their welcomes. 

"Thank God!” reverently said Mr. Ross. "They 
are all safe.” And, strong man that he was, he wept 
like a child. Other eyes than his were moist also. 
With an effort he checked his deep emotion, and was 
so able to control himself that ere the shore was 
reached he was calm and collected. 

When within hailing distance hearty words of con- 
gratulation rapidly passed back and forward. Such 
was the nature of the shore that a good place where 
359 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

they could step into the boat from the shore was not 
easily found, and so the men at the oars rowed up on 
the sandy beach as far as they could, and then run- 
ning out three oars made a walk that answered very 
well. 

Good Mr. Ross was so wild with delight at the fact 
of the preservation of these young folks, whom he 
loved so well, that he was the first to rush out and 
try and gather them all in his arms. 

In the excitement of the rescue Napoleon, the tame 
bear, had been quite forgotten, but now he acted as 
though he had been doing his share of thinking, and 
had come to the conclusion that if his liberty was to 
be associated with cyclones, he had had enough of 
it; and so, just as Mr. Ross and the young people 
were about to go on board the boat, he deliberately 
came marching out of the cave and, carefully balan- 
cing himself, walked up on the oars and took a 
comfortable position in the boat. 

His unexpected appearance very much startled the 
men, and there was a general scramble for guns. 
Alec, quick to see his danger, rushed up, and taking 
a position beside Napoleon forbade any shooting, 
and speedily made some very necessary explanations, 
much to the relief and amusement of all. 

It did not take long to return to Sagasta-weekee, 
and great indeed were the rejoicings there. ^ 

Soon the other search boats returned, and the 
anxieties of all were thus speedily relieved. After 
the recital of the story of their narrow escape an 
impressive thanksgiving service was held, and every 
heart was full of gratitude for their deliverance. 

360 






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The Village of Those Noted Warriors of the Plains. 



IN THE Great Lone Land 


CHAPTER XXV. 

Homeward Bound — Farewell to Sagasta-weekee — Old Nor- 
way House — Sam’s Clever Surmisings — A Glad Surprise for 
Frank and Alec — Sam’s Well-deserved Ducking — A Glorious 
Evening — The Early Call — Just One More Sweet “Good-bye” 
— “All Aboard !” — On Great Lake Winnipeg — Sam’s Success- 
ful Shot at a Bear — Red River — First Glimpse of the Prairies — 
Fort Garry — The Bells of St. Boniface — The Long Trip Across 
the Plains — The Exciting Buffalo Hunt — Saint Paul’s — Still On 
by Lakes and Rivers — Montreal — On Board Ship — The Ocean 
Voyage — Liverpool — Home at Last. 

The start was made from Sagasta-weekee in time 
for the boats to go that afternoon as far as to the old 
Norway House fort, where the mighty Nelson River 
begins its career. Here for scores of years it has 
been the custom for the boats to camp for at least 
one night and make their final preparations for the 
long trip of the wLole length of Lake Winnipeg to 
the mouth of the Red River. 

To the great delight of the boys, some extra boats 
were sent in with the Red River brigade, and so they 
had Big Tom as their guide, Martin Papanekis as 
their cook, and Soquatum as bowman. 

These boats are each propelled by eight sturdy 
oarsmen. The work of rowing all day at these heavy 
oars is very laborious, and so there is great delight 
when the wind is favorable and a mast can be placed 
in position and a great square sail hauled up into 
the favoring breeze. Then the voyage is a joyous 

holiday. What is most dreaded is a long, continuous 

361 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

head wind, against which they can neither sail nor 
use the oars with good effect. 

Early in the forenoon on the day of starting the 
young gentlemen said farewell to their good friends 
of the mission, Mr. and Mrs. Hurlburt and the sweet 
young ladies, Rachel and Winnie. It is almost need- 
less to add that both Frank and Alec declared them- 
selves as the most devoted of lovers, and vowed that 
in a few years they would return and claim them as 
their brides. We must leave time to tell the results 
of these youthful loves, which had begun under such 
happy and romantic auspices. 

To the surprise of the young gentlemen, Mrs. Ross 
and the children left Sagasta-weekee at the same time 
as did Mr. Hurlburt and his family, and so were not 
there to see them off when they left a few hours later. 

So thoroughly and well had the packing been done 
that not much time was lost after the arrival of the 
boats before everything was on board. The kindly 
farewells to all were said, and they were off. Sam 
could not help shouting back to Pasche, as he stood 
on a rock with a sorrowful face : 

‘‘Don’t set any more traps for moose bulls, 
Pasche !” 

“No, mon gar^on, I have had enough of that 
work,” he shouted, amid the laughter of the other 
servants. 

With waving of handkerchiefs and shouts of “Bon 
voyage” and “Good-bye,” Sagasta-weekee was left 
behind. There were tears in the eyes of the lads who 
had spent within its comfortable walls such an event- 
ful year. They had grown much, not only physic- 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

ally, but there had been development mentally and 
morally that would tell for good in the oncoming 
years. To have been under the guidance of such a 
couple as Mr. and Mr. Ross in such a formative 
period of their young lives was of incalculable value. 
Happy are the boys who have such guardians ; hap- 
pier still if their own parents are of this splendid 
class. 

As the wind sprang up from the north the mast, 
which had been securely tied to the outside of the 
boat, was quickly placed in position, and the sail was 
soon doing its work. Mr. Ross and the lads had 
comfortable seats arranged for them in the stern of 
the boat. Just behind them stood Big Tom, skillfully 
using a great oar as a rudder. Wild ducks and a few 
geese flew by, but there was now no time for shoot- 
ing. On they sped, and it was easy to observe from 
the quiet yet frequent consultations in the Indian 
language that passed between Mr. Ross and Big Tom 
that there was something more than the sail in the 
wind. Sam, who had picked up quite a knowledge of 
Indian, was the first to suspect what was before them, 
and so he blurted out : 

''Faith, I believe Oo-che-me-ke-se-gou is going to 
be repeated.’’ 

"What do you mean?” asked Frank. 

"Mean, is it, you ask? Why, I mean that I fancy 
some other hands than Martin’s will pour the tea 
for us to-night.” 

"Do stop talking riddles, Sam,” said Alec, "and 
tell us what your palaver is all about.” 

"Well,” replied the incorrigible tease, "I fancy 
363 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

that, if you young gentlemen are getting sick of hav- 
ing pledged yourselves to eternal loyalty, or, in other 
words, plighted your troths either to others, as the 
book says, you will both have a chance to tell the fair 
damsels to their faces ere the sun goes down.” 

“Sam !” they both shouted, “what do you mean ?” 

This explosion on their part caused Mr. Ross to 
turn from his consultation with Big Tom. In re- 
sponse rather to his looks than anything he uttered 
Sam said: 

“1 have been trying to get it into the thick heads 
of these two boys that there is an agreeable con- 
spiracy on foot for their mutual consolation and edi- 
fication, but for the life of me I believe they are as 
much in the dark as when I began.” 

‘X'hist!” (“Look!”) cried Big Tom. “Akota 
wigwam!” (“There is the tent!”) 

These words of Big Tom caused everything else 
to be forgotten, and so even Mr. Ross, who was 
vastly amused that Sam had been so observant, did 
not make any reply to the lad’s remarks. 

Rapidly they sped along, and now soon to all was 
visible a large tent and a number of persons on the 
distant sandy beach. Sam keenly watched his com- 
rades, and saw their cheeks flush and their eyes get 
moist as they caught the sight of white handkerchiefs 
waving from the hands of those to whom they had 
become so deeply attached. 

“It is too good to be true,” said Frank, as he 
gripped Alec with one hand, while with the other he 
was waving his handkerchief wildly in response to 
those of the loved ones on the shore. 

364 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

Onward sped the boat, and soon all were recog- 
nized. Here they found all who had left early in the 
morning — Mrs. Ross and the children and all the 
mission friends. What a delightful surprise, and 
how happy they all were that it had been such a suc- 
cess ! Poor Sam, the only one to see through it, was 
the only one to come to grief. He had not patience 
enough to wait until three or four of the big oars 
were lashed together to serve as a rude gangway on 
which to walk safely to the shore, but seeing the 
ease with which some of the agile Indians ran out on 
a single oar, in spite of the rocking of the boat, he 
boldly tried to do the same, and ere he knew where 
he was he was down in the water and nearly drowned 
by a retreating wave under the boat. Quickly was 
he rescued, but he was completely drenched to the 
skin. He was somewhat bruised, but was not long 
the worse for the accident. But as he was quickly 
hurried off to the shelter of the tent and dry clothes 
secured for him he admitted that he deserved the 
ducking, as he had purposely hurried ashore to make 
a few remarks when the young lovers should meet 
again. 

And so Frank had the joy of again meeting his 
Rachel and Alec his sweet Winnie, and a delightful 
visit they had with them while Sam was having his 
bruised body well rubbed in sturgeon oil by a stal- 
wart Indian. This is the Indian’s drastic remedy 
for such a mishap, and a good one it is. Very de- 
lightfully passed that long June evening. It was 
full eleven o’clock ere the gorgeous colors all died 
awav in the west and the stars one by one came out 
365 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

in their quiet beauty and decked as with diamonds 
that peerless northern sky. After a time the auroras 
flashed and blazed in quiet beauty. To-night they 
seemed not as warriors bent on carnage, but as 
troops of lovers tripping in joyous unison to some 
sweet strains of music unheard by mortal ears. 

Amid such surroundings sat and talked this happy 
group. It was, they well knew, their last evening 
together, and so amid its joyousness there was a 
tinge of sorrow and regret. As the evening dark- 
ened into night they had all gathered near the great 
brilliant camp fire, which is always welcome and 
agreeable even in June nights, no matter how warm 
has been the day. 

After the delightful events and incidents of the 
past had been referred to and discussed by all, the 
conversation turned to the many dangers that had 
come to some of them, and their narrow escapes. 
Gratitude to God for their many marvelous deliver- 
ances was the uppermost feeling in their hearts. Mr. 
Hurlburt and Mr. Ross spoke most impressively on 
this wonderful providential care that had been over 
them. 

The Indians, except those whose duty it was to 
see to the welfare of their masters and mistresses, 
were all now asleep. Wrapped up each in his blan- 
ket, they lay around on the rocks in picturesque 
places. 

During the evening all the other boats had arrived 
from Norway House, and so it was arranged that 
if the wind continued favorable they would make 

an earlv start in the morning. When Mr. Ross felt 
366 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

that it was time to break up the delightful circle he 
asked Mr. Hurlburt to take charge of the devotional 
service. Always hallowed and precious were these 
sacred hours of worship in the forest or on the 
shores, and this last one was not less suggestive and 
profitable. First from memory they all repeated the 
one-hundred-and-third psalm, then they sang the 
sweet hymn “Abide with me,’' and at its close Mrs. 
Ross’s sweet voice struck up “Blest be the tie that 
binds.” Then Mr. Hurlburt, the devoted mission- 
ary, led in prayer. Heaven seemed very near as the 
good man talked with God and commended Frank, 
Alec, and Sam to his loving, omnipotent care during 
the long, varied journey before them. 

“Say good-bye as well as good night,” said Mr. 
Ross; “for we may be off in the morning without 
disturbing those who remain behind.” 

So the tender farewells were uttered, and all the 
ladies of the party retired to the large, commodious 
tent that, as we have seen, had been prepared for 
them. Mr. Ross, Mr. Hurlburt, and the boys went 
to the camp beds that had been long waiting for them 
on the dry beach. Here the Indians quickly tucked 
them in, and soon they were fast asleep — so fast that 
Sam declared when he heard the sharp call, “Level 
leve!” in the morning that he had not had time for 
even one sweet dream. 

Quickly were the morning preparations made. 
The kettles were soon boiling and a hasty breakfast 
prepared. When this was eaten the Christian In- 
dians asked Mr. Hurlburt to take charge of their 
morning devotions. This he cheerfully did, and so. 


Winter Adventures of Tfiree Boys 

as was customary, the service was conducted in Cree 
and English. 

Then the cry was, “All aboard!” The boys — 
Frank and Alec, we mean — could not help casting 
their eyes toward the snow-white tent in hopes of at 
least one more glimpse at two of its inmates. They 
were almost in despair, when Sam’s cheery voice 
rang out : 

“Don’t lose heart, my hearties! If all the boys 
should go to China, the girls would surely go to 
Pekin. Sure they are peekin' now, and here they 
come ! Hurrah, and welcome !” 

Yes, here they come. Love’s ears are sharp, and 
so Rachel and Winnie heard the call to the travelers, 
and up they had sprung and dressed, and now, radi- 
ant and lovely, once more they came in their sweet 
beauty to greet and say “Good-bye” again, and “God 
be with you till we meet again.” For a few minutes 
they chatted, and then the “All aboard !” again rang 
out, and so they once more lovingly saluted each 
other and parted. Rachel and Winnie at once re- 
turned to the tent. Frank and Alec were soon in 
their places in the boat. One after another of the 
boats pushed off, until the whole little fleet was under 
way. The wind was favorable, and so it was a pretty 
sight to see the whole brigade speeding on over the 
rippling waves with the white sails filled by the 
northern breeze. 

Spider Islands were nearly reached ere much was 
said by anybody but Sam. His good humor and 
mirth were irrepressible, and soon it became con- 
tagious. He had tried his hand at a big oar, and, 
368 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

'‘catching a crab,'’ had tumbled back amid some 
boxes, much to the amusement of all. 

Thus on they sped. At Montreal Point they 
stopped long enough to boil their kettles, and then 
their journey was resumed. At Poplar Point they 
spent a few hours and had a good sleep. Then next 
morning, bright and early, they were off again. At 
Beren’s River they stopped for dinner, then on they 
sped. At the Narrows they saw a great black bear 
swimming across the channel. Poor bruin got into 
a tight place. Some of the boats headed him off, and 
when he attempted to return he found that others 
were between him and the shore. His perplexity 
was very great and his temper much ruffled. Soon 
the bullets began to whistle around him, and these 
added to his trouble. A bear swims very low in the 
water, and so, unless in anger he inflates his lungs 
and raises himself up to growl, there is very little to 
fire at. The result was, in this case, the flintlock 
guns did not seem to be able to pierce his skull. 

Mr. Ross, who could not bear to see even a bear 
tortured, took out his rifle and, loading it, handed it 
to Big Tom, to kill the animal at once. Big Tom 
took the rifle, looked at it and then at Sam, and 
gravely said : 

“Sam ran away from his first bear, suppose he 
shoots his last one.” 

Nothing could please the reckless Sam better, and 
so he quickly sprang up beside Big Tom, who at once 
gave him some directions about allowing for the 
motion of the boat. 

“Now,” said Big Tom, “I will swing the boat so 
24 369 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

that his head will be right in front of you. When I 
call he will raise his head, and you hit him right 
between the eyes.’^ 

Quickly was the boat swung in the right position, 
and as from Tom’s lips there was emitted a sound 
like the call of another bear, the one in the water in- 
stantly raised up his head, in a listening attitude. 
Instantly the report rang out, and a dead bear lay 
there in the water. 

“Well done, Sam !” shouted Frank and Alec, while 
perhaps Big Tom was the proudest man in the boat. 

The bear was hauled on board by the crew of one 
of the boats in the rear. That night the men skinned 
the bear, and as rapidly as possible dried the robe, 
which was carried home to Ireland by Sam with his 
other trophies. 

Thus day after day passed. Sometimes there was 
hardly a breath of wind, and then the men rowed 
all day. A couple of days were lost on account of 
strong head winds, but, on the whole, they had a 
fairly good trip, for at the end of the tenth day they 
entered the mouth of Red River and camped on its 
low, marshy shores, amid its miles of reedy morass 
and its millions of mosquitoes. This was the boys’ 
first experience of them for the season, but it was 
enough for a lifetime. 

“The pious villains !” said Sam. “They sing over 
us and they prey upon us !” 

But the longest night has an end, and next day the 
boats were rowed up to Lower Fort Garry. Here 
the boys bade good-bye to Big Tom and the other 
Indians, after they had taken them up into the Hud- 
370 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

son Bay Company’s store and bought for each some 
handsome presents. Mr. Ross found urgent letters 
here awaiting him, and so that afternoon horses 
were secured, and he and our three boys were driven 
along the beautiful prairie road, on the western bank 
of the winding Red River, twenty miles up to Fort 
Garry. 

This was the first glance the boys had ever had 
of a genuine prairie. They were simply wild with 
delight at its vastness and inimitable beauty. Seeing 
it as they did, in this early summer time, with its 
rich grasses at the greenest and its brilliant spring 
flowers at the perfection of their beauty, it was no 
wonder that they were in such raptures of delight. 
Twenty miles of travel brought them to Upper Fort 
Garry. This old historic fort had long played a 
prominent part in the history of that country. Here 
they were hospitably entertained by the officers of 
the Hudson Bay Company. 

A few days only were needed to make all prepara- 
tions for the long trip across the prairies to St. Paul, 
in Minnesota. Some Red River carts, each drawn 
by an ox, were secured to carry the baggage and sup- 
plies. For the boys a double-seated buckboard 
wagon, with a canvas top, was purchased, and Bap- 
tiste, a famous half-breed French and Indian driver, 
was hired to manage the rather uncertain horses that 
in relays were to drag the affair along. Saddles were 
also taken along for them to travel on horseback 
when they so desired. 

As there were all sorts of rumors and stones of 
troubles among the hostile Sioux and Chippewa In- 
371 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

dians along the route, it was decided that the party 
should join a large brigade of carts that, loaded 
principally with buffalo robes and furs, was just 
starting for St. Paul. These brigades carried the 
trading flag of the Hudson Bay Company. Its motto 
was, ^Tro pella cutem’’ (“Skin for skin”). It is a 
remarkable fact that for generations, even among 
the most hostile tribes of Indians, this flag was re- 
spected, and those carrying it were never robbed or 
in any way interfered with. 

With sincere regret and sorrow the parting be- 
tween Mr. Ross and the boys took place. However, 
they were delighted at his promise that, if all went 
well, he would see them a couple of years hence in 
their own homes in the old land. 

Just as they were leaving in the early morning 
the bells of St. Boniface rang out their silvery notes. 
These are the bells, the first out there on the lonely 
prairies, that Whittier has made famous by his 
beautiful poem: 

“The voyageur smiles as he listens 
To the sound that grows apace; 

Well he knows the vesper ringing 
Of the bells of St. Boniface — 

“The bells of the Roman Mission 
That call from their turrets twain 

To the boatmen on the river, 

To the hunter on the plain! 

“Even so in our mortal journey 
The bitter north winds blow, 

And thus upon life’s Red River 
Our hearts as oarsmen row.” 

372 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

As some officials of the Hudson Bay Company 
went along with the large brigade, our young folks 
had some capital company. After a few days the 
trip lost much of its excitement and interest. The 
prairies, beautiful as they at first looked, became 
somewhat monotonous. Every little lake — and they 
passed many — was greeted with pleasure. As the 
horses could travel faster than the oxen, sometimes 
Baptiste would hurry on ahead to some well-known 
lake full of wild ducks, and here the boys and their 
friends would have some capital shooting, which 
largely and agreeably added to the food supply. 

When out about a week they were told by some 
of the outriders, who came galloping up from the 
front, that a herd of buffalo was not far distant, and 
that some Sioux Indians were preparing to run 
them. Saddles were at once put on some of the 
relay horses, and Frank, Alec, and Sam, and some 
of their comrades, at once set off to the front to see 
the exciting sport. They fortunately reached a high 
swell in the prairie just in time to have a splendid 
view of the whole affair. The buffaloes numbered 
about six or eight hundred. Attacking them were 
perhaps fifty or sixty of the finest horsemen in the 
world. Their horses were trained buffalo runners, 
and entered into the mad, wild sport with all the en- 
thusiasm of the riders. All the saddle these riders 
had was a small piece of buffalo robe so securely 
fastened on that it could not slip. There was neither 
halter nor bridle on their horses’ heads. One end 
of a long lariat was fastened loosely around their 
necks, while the rest of it dragged along the ground. 

373 


.Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

The Indians availed themselves of a great swell 
in the prairies, and so were able to get quite close to 
the herd ere they were discovered. Very few of 
these warriors had guns, but they were well armed 
with their famous bows and arrows. About two 
miles away from our party they began the attack on 
the opposite side of the herd. The result was that 
as the frightened animals came thundering on before 
their dreaded foes the boys had a splendid view of 
the whole scene. For a time it looked as though they 
might be involved in the mass of terrified animals, 
as the slope up toward them was very gradual and 
they were in the direct line of the rush. However, 
Baptiste and others, who well knew how to meet such 
an emergency, quickly bunched the party together, 
and had all the guns fired off in quick succession. 
This speedily parted the oncoming herd, and so they 
in two divisions thundered by on the right and left, 
with their merciless pursuers on their flanks and in 
the rear, rapidly thinning their numbers. 

It was a most exciting scene, and one to a genuine 
sportsman that was worth many a day's travel to 
see. The boys were wild to plunge into the fray, 
especially when the great buffaloes went galloping 
by not two hundred yards on each side of them ; but 
their horses, although excited, were untrained for 
such sport, and in all probability if started off at full 
speed would soon have stumbled into some badger's 
hole or prairie dog’s nest, and thus send their riders 
over their heads. So Baptiste wisely restrained their 
ardor. The next day our party visited the village 
of these noted warriors of the plains. 

374 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

St. Paul at length was reached. Here passage 
was secured in a flat-bottomed steamer, with its 
great wheel at the stern. Down to St. Croix, on the 
Mississippi, in this they voyaged. Then across the 
State of Wisconsin to Milwaukee they traveled by 
railroad. At this city they secured passage in a 
steam propeller to Montreal. The trip through 
Lakes Michigan, Huron, St. Clair, and Erie was 
very delightful. In the Welland Canal the boys were 
much interested as they entered into the series of 
locks by which great vessels go up and down the 
great hillside. On they steamed through the beauti- 
ful Lake Ontario. Then out into the great St. Law- 
rence River they glided. The Thousand Islands 
seemed like fairyland. The rapids, down which they 
plunged with the speed of an express train, very 
much excited and delighted them. Toward the 
evening of the fifth day from Milwaukee the towers 
and steeples of Montreal became visible, with its 
splendid mountain in the rear. Soon they were 
alongside of one of the wharves of that great, busy 
shipping port, and this part of the journey was 
ended. By telegraph their berths had already been 
secured for them, and so all our travelers had to do 
was to oversee the transshipment of their boxes and 
bales from the lake propeller to the ocean steamship. 

As a day or two would intervene ere the voyage 
would begin, they had an opportunity for a drive or 
two around the glorious mountain which gives the 
city its name. They also visited the quaint old 
cathedral and other places of historic interest in that 
famous city. 


Winter Adventures of Three Boys 

In due time the ocean voyage was begun. The 
great St. Lawrence is a magnificent and picturesque 
river. Quebec, in its stern grandeur, very much 
charmed the boys, and they gazed with interest as 
some well-read travelers pointed out Wolfe’s Cove 
and the place up which Wolfe’s gallant men clam- 
bered in the night, to fight the next day, on the Plains 
of Abraham, that fierce battle that caused half of the 
continent to change from French to English masters. 
Then on again they steamed. Soon they were out 
on the stormy Atlantic. The voyage was uneventful, 
and in ten days or so they sighted the coast of Ire- 
land. On and on they pushed, until the Mersey was 
reached. The tide was favorable, and so there was 
no delay. 

FTere they were at length, after all their wander- 
ings, in dear old England. Very green and beautiful 
did the country look, after their long voyage on the 
stormy ocean. Yonder, in the distance, is Liverpool, 
that mighty city where at its marvelous stone docks 
are seen the ships of every sea. The boys are excited 
now. They are nearing home. The coming of the 
ship has been reported hours before, and now, as she 
gallantly feels her way among the many vessels pass- 
ing out, the boys, with staring eyes, are at the front, 
gazing for the sight of loved ones that they are sure 
will be there to meet them. 

“Hurrah!” they shout; for there, with waving 
handkerchiefs and excited gestures, are representa- 
tives from three families to welcome home our 
Frank, Alec, and Sam. Delightful is the home-com- 
irigi joyous are the welcomes. 

376 


IN THE Great Lone Land 

Here we leave them. We have had a very happy 
time together. We are loath to separate from them. 
Whether we shall see them again and take them 
back to those interesting regions to meet and wed 
their sweethearts, left in that far-away country, will 
much depend upon events which are beyond our ken 
at present. Suffice to say that the year spent in the 
Great Lone Land proved to have been one of the 
most profitable of their lives. They had returned in 
the most perfect health. Their readings had not 
been neglected, and then they had in addition the 
rich stores of knowledge and information that a 
year so full of varied adventure could not fail to 
bestow. 

They had also returned with something like cor- 
rect views of the red Indians of North America. In- 
stead of war whoops and scalping scenes, they had 
seen how the genuine Indian, when honorably dealt 
with, is a peaceful person, and can under decent 
treatment become the most loyal of friends. They 
delighted also to speak most emphatically and en- 
couragingly of the work accomplished by the self- 
denying missionaries among them, who had been in- 
strumental in winning thousands of them from a 
degrading paganism to Christianity, and successfully 
introducing among them the best phases of a genuine 
and abiding civilization. 

377 


THE END. 



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